First athletics gold for India at Asian Games 2026 as women’s 4x400m quartet clinches top spot
Nagoya: The Indian quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi, and Vithya Ramraj delivered a standout performance on Tuesday, claiming gold in the women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Games and breaking India's track-and-field gold drought in the current edition.
The Indian team clocked 3:29.69 to secure the top spot, while Bahrain and China took silver and bronze, respectively.
Kiran Pahal launched the race and handed off the baton in third position before veteran R Poovamma pushed India into the lead. Prachi maintained the advantage during the third leg, setting up Vithya Ramraj for the final stretch. Vithya hit top gear around the final bend, holding off strong challenges from Bahrain and China to seal victory.
The triumph adds another chapter to Poovamma’s decorated career. A member of India’s gold-medal-winning 4x400m teams at both the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games, as well as a 2016 Olympian, her legacy continues to expand.
Vithya entered the relay following an impressive outing on Monday, where she broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles with a personal best of 54.75 seconds to capture bronze.
Medal haul across the track and field events
India earned several other podium finishes throughout the day:
Men's 5000m: Gulveer Singh won bronze with a time of 13:32.75, making this his third medal of the Nagoya Games after earning silvers in the 1500m and 10,000m. Gulveer becomes only the second Indian man and fourth athlete overall to win three track-and-field medals in a single Asian Games edition, joining Lavy Pinto (1951), PT Usha (1986), and KM Beenamol (2002).
Men's 4x400m Relay: In the final track event of the evening, Dharamveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil, Jay Kumar, and Vishal Thennarasu logged 3:01.61 to earn bronze behind Japan and Qatar.
4x100m Mixed Relay: Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Sneha Sathyanarayana, and Harita Bhadra finished third with a season-best 41.06 seconds. China captured gold in 40.78 seconds, followed by Thailand in 40.87.
Women's High Jump: 19-year-old Pooja Singh led for a significant portion of the competition before settling for bronze with a height of 1.84m.
Other notable performances
In the women’s hammer throw, Tanya Chaudhary came in fourth with a mark of 65.35m, while Anushka Yadav finished fifth with 64.56m. In the men’s pole vault, Dev Kumar Meena set a new national record with a 5.50m vault, finishing seventh overall. Meanwhile, Pooja Olla and Mohammed Afsal placed seventh and eighth in their respective women’s and men’s 800m finals. (PTI)