Sawan Barwal wins marathon silver with national record as Tajinderpal takes shot put silver; Prachi claims 400m bronze
Sawan Barwal won the men's marathon at the Asian Games on Saturday, September 26, 2026, taking silver with a time of 2:11:37 and improving his own national record by 21 seconds.
Barwal, who began running marathons only a year ago, lowered his April mark of 2:11:58 — which had already bettered Shivnath Singh's 1978 timing of 2:12:00 — and earned India's first Asian Games silver in the marathon in 44 years; it was the fourth Indian medal ever in the Asian marathon and the first achieved outside India. The 28-year-old remained with the lead pack for much of the race and appeared a contender before Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita moved clear to win in 2:10:49.
At the Paloma Mizuho athletics stadium on Saturday evening, Tajinderpal Singh Toor settled for silver in the shot put in persistent rain and cold. Toor's best effort measured 20.64 m on his fifth attempt, while Iran's Mohammadreza Tayebise won with a Games-record throw of 20.81 m; Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Tolu finished third with 20.48 m and Karanveer Singh was 10th with 18.40.
In the track events, Prachi Choudhary took a surprise bronze in the women's 400m with 53.21 s. Other Indian placings included Karthik Unnikrishnan sixth in the triple jump with 16.02 m, Kiran Pahal fifth in the women's 400m in 53.41 s, Vishal T.K. fifth in the men's 400m in 45.48 s, and Parul Chaudhary fourth in the women's 1500m despite a personal best of 4:09.46.
Tejaswin Shankar led the decathlon standings on Saturday with 4,338 points after five events. Attention was also drawn to several late withdrawals: Jyothi Yarraji, silver medallist in the 100m hurdles last time, and national record holder triple jumper Praveen Chithravel withdrew, as did high jumper Sarvesh Kushare.
The three athletes who pulled out had submitted medical certificates assuring complete fitness and were cleared at the last minute, a sequence that drew scrutiny alongside the day's medal performances.
