Second medal for Gulveer Singh at Asian Games 2026: Long-distance runner clinches silver in 1500m

Nagoya: Indian long-distance runner Gulveer Singh delivered a stellar performance to capture a silver medal in the men's 1500m final with a personal best effort of 3:36.72 at the Asian Games here on Monday.

Gulveer, who had already won a silver in the 10,000m in the ongoing edition, finished behind gold medallist Kazuto Iizawa of Japan, while compatriot Nagiya Mori won the bronze with an effort of 3:37.92.

"This is a very important medal in my career. I have no problem in running as many events and want to win medals in them. I could not maintain my final kick speed till the end as I am normally a long distance runner, running mainly 5000m and 1000m," the 28-year-old from Uttar Pradesh said.

The other Indian in the race, Yoonus Shah, finished ninth with an effort of 3:43.88.

Following Gulveer’s success, Murali Sreeshankar continued India's medal-winning run in track and field with a silver in the men's long jump event. The 27-year-old from Palakkad, who had won a silver medal at the last edition in Hangzhou and at this year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, produced a best effort of 8.07m in his second attempt to move into medal contention. He could not take his last two attempts after hurting his ankle in the fourth try and finished behind China's Yuhao Shi, who produced a season-best 8.17m to claim the gold medal. Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov claimed the bronze with an effort of 8.06m.

In the women's track events, Parul Chaudhary bagged a bronze in the women's 5000m final. Chaudhary, the 31-year-old from Uttar Pradesh who had won gold at Hangzhou in 2023, clocked 15:14.61 to finish third behind gold medallist Winfred Yavi of Bahrain (15:10.18) and silver medallist Nozomi Tanaka of Japan (15:11.65). It was Chaudhary's second medal of the Games, following her bronze in the women's 3000m steeplechase on Sunday. Seema, who had won a bronze in the women's 10,000m, finished sixth after clocking 15:35.06.

In the women's 400m hurdles event, Vithya Ramraj clinched a bronze medal. Ramraj clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds to break a more than four-decade-old national record created by the legendary P T Usha and win a second medal at the ongoing edition of the quadrennial event. She was previously part of the silver-winning 4x400m mixed relay team. Ramraj bettered Usha's 55.42sec effort that came in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Usha, currently heading the Indian Olympic Association, was in attendance at the Games.

"Medal is in our hands, but time is not. This race will not come tomorrow or yesterday. Today is our day, so I was going for the timing, not the medal," she said after the race.

"My coach said we would go 54 seconds. I did it, and I am so happy. The timing was so good, so I am very happy.

"Everyone has been asking me because I had not gone under 55 seconds for three years. My coach Nehpal Singh Rathore told me to go fast, then maintain it through the sixth hurdle. From the sixth hurdle to the finish line, it was all out," she added.

India's Anu Raghavan finished fifth in the same race, recording a personal best of 55.88 seconds.

However, there was disappointment elsewhere in the track and field contingent. The injury-ravaged Avinash Sable produced a season's best effort but failed to defend his gold medal, finishing fourth in the men's 3000m steeplechase final. The 32-year-old from Maharashtra, a two-time Olympian, clocked 8:21.67sec, finishing 4.31 seconds behind Japan's Ryuji Miura, who won the gold with a Games record of 8:17.36sec. Miura's compatriot Ryoma Aoki claimed the silver with a personal best of 8:17.60, while Qatar's Zakaria Elahlaami took the bronze in 8:18.13.

In the men's 400m hurdles final, Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan clocked 49.95s to finish seventh in the eight-man field. Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Seema Kaliramna's personal best effort was not enough as she finished fourth in the women's discus throw final. Seema produced an effort of 59.88m in her fifth attempt, but all three podium finishers recorded throws in excess of 60m. (PTI)