Asian Athletics: India Concludes with 24 Medals; Sachin, Parul, and Women’s Relay Team Secure Silver

The 26th Asian Athletics Championships saw India topping the medal tally with a total of 24 medals, led by a national record, some personal bests, and six medals on the last day of competition.

Indian athletes may not have won gold medals on the final day but they displayed terrific grit to secure three silver and three bronze medals.

Parul Chaudhary earned her second silver of the championships in the women's 5000m, clocking 15:15.33, to add on to the silver she earlier won in the 3000m steeplechase.

In the men's javelin throw, Sachin Yadav won silver with a personal best performance. In the women's 4x100m relay team that included Abinaya Rajarajan, Sneha SS, Srabani Nanda, and Nithya Gandhe, the team posted a season-best 43.86 seconds to bag India's last silver medal of the event.

Sprinter Animesh Kujur stunned with a national record time of 20.32 seconds to win bronze in the men’s 200m, marking India’s first medal in this event in a decade.

Middle-distance runner Pooja achieved a personal best timing to earn bronze in the women’s 800m, while Asian Games medalist Vithya Ramraj grabbed the bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles.

India finished overall with 8 gold, 10 silver, and 6 bronze medals. Although the overall medal count was slightly less than the 27 gained in the last edition, the gold medal tally increased from 6 to 8.

With two-time Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra absent, Indian javelin throwers did not disappoint with personal best throws. Sachin, who comes from a farmer's family in Khekra village in the vicinity of Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, threw 85.16 meters in his last attempt and was behind Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who took gold with a throw of 86.40 meters in his first competition since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Sachin's personal best was 84.39 meters.

Another javelin thrower, Yashvir Singh, also turned heads with a best throw of 82.57 meters, which placed him fifth.

Kujur Breaks India's Ten-Year Sprint Medal Drought

The first medal for India on the last day was claimed by Animesh Kujur, who ended a ten-year sprint medal drought when he took bronze in the men's 200m. The last Indian to win a medal in this event was Dharambir Singh, who took bronze at the 2015 championships.

Odisha's 21-year-old athlete broke the national record at 20.32 seconds, bettering his own previous national record of 20.40 seconds that he had achieved at this year's National Federation Senior Athletics Competition.

Japan's Towa Uzawa won gold in 20.12 seconds, and Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Abdu I Atafi won silver at 20.31 seconds.

Bronze Medals for Vithya and Pooja

Asian Games bronze medalist Vithya Ramraj easily glided through the women's 400m hurdles to come third with a timing of 56.46 seconds. China's Mo Jiadie clocked 56.31 seconds to claim gold, just inches ahead of Bahrain's Oluwakemi Adekoya, who took silver with a timing of 55.32 seconds. India had another Indian participant, Anu Raghavan, place seventh with a time of 57.46 seconds.

Pooja won India's third bronze on the day in the women's 800m, recording a personal best of 2:01.89.

In the women's 200m final, Jyoti Yarraji took fifth place with a time of 23.47 seconds, and Nithya Gandhe took seventh place in 23.90 seconds. Yarraji had earlier won gold in the women's 100m hurdles earlier in the week.

Krishan Kumar and Anu Kumar finished seventh and eighth respectively in the men's 800m event.