Nagoya, Sept 30:
India ended its wait for an athletics gold at the Asian Games 2026 as the women’s 4x400m relay quartet of Vithya Ramraj, Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma and Prachi triumphed in the final in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday.
The Indian team clocked 3:29.69 to win the gold, finishing ahead of Bahrain, who took silver in 3:30.21. China secured bronze with a timing of 3:31.02.
Kiran Pahal started the race and handed over the baton in third place. Poovamma produced a strong second leg to move India into the lead, while Prachi maintained the advantage. Vithya Ramraj took charge in the anchor leg and held off Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Nasr in the closing stages to seal India’s victory.
The gold ensured that India did not return from the Asian Games without an athletics gold for the first time since the 1994 Hiroshima Games.
For Vithya Ramraj, the victory completed a memorable three-medal campaign. She had earlier won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles.
Her 54.75-second effort in the hurdles final also broke PT Usha’s national record of 55.42 seconds, which had stood for 42 years. UAE’s Mariam Kareem won gold in 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver in 54.58 seconds.
India also collected several other athletics medals on Tuesday. Pooja won bronze in the women’s high jump, while Gulveer Singh secured bronze in the men’s 5,000m with a time of 13:32.75. Gulveer completed a three-medal haul after earlier winning silver in the 10,000m and 1,500m.
India also won bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay and the men’s 4x400m relay. The men’s quartet of Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil, Jay Kumar and Vishal Thennarasu clocked 3:01.61, finishing behind Japan and Qatar.
The women’s 4x400m relay gold, however, provided the highlight of India’s athletics campaign, ending a long wait for the top prize at the Asian Games.