Vithya Ramraj broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles while winning bronze, as India enjoyed a prolific day in athletics at the 2026 Asian Games. Parul Chaudhary and Gulveer Singh added second medals, while Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav secured a javelin double. Murali Sreeshankar also won silver in the long jump despite an ankle injury.
Nagoya, Sept 2026 : India enjoyed a remarkable day in athletics at the 2026 Asian Games on Monday as Vithya Ramraj broke a 42-year-old national record, Parul Chaudhary and Gulveer Singh added second medals to their campaigns, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav secured a double podium in men's javelin and Murali Sreeshankar battled through injury to win silver in the long jump.
Vithya produced the headline performance of the day, clocking a personal best of 54.75 seconds to win bronze in the women's 400m hurdles and surpass the national record held by legendary athlete PT Usha since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Usha's mark of 55.42 seconds had stood for more than four decades.
The 28-year-old Indian had previously equalled Usha's record at the 2023 Asian Games, where she also won bronze. Three years later, she finally moved beyond the mark, improving it by 0.67 seconds.
Vithya remained firmly in medal contention throughout the race and held her position in the closing stages. The gold went to the United Arab Emirates' Mariam Kareem, who clocked a Games record 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan's Adelina Zems won silver in a personal best of 54.58 seconds.
The performance gave Vithya another significant medal at the Games and further strengthened India's showing in athletics.
India also secured a memorable one-two finish in the men's javelin throw, with Yashvir Singh taking silver and Rohit Yadav winning bronze. Yashvir produced a personal best of 85.72 metres, while Rohit recorded 84.35 metres.
Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage won gold with a throw of 88.55 metres, while Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem finished fourth with 80.29 metres.
The Indian double podium continued the country's strong record in the men's javelin at the Asian Games. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Neeraj Chopra won gold with 88.88 metres and Kishore Jena took silver with 87.54 metres.
Chopra was not part of the Indian contingent in Nagoya after withdrawing from the remainder of the season following the Diamond League in Doha due to injury.
Parul Chaudhary added another bronze to her medal collection by finishing third in the women's 5000m final in 15:14.61. The result came a day after she won bronze in the women's 3000m steeplechase.
Parul stayed within striking distance of the leading group for much of the race despite the fast early pace. As the battle for the minor medals intensified, she produced a strong finishing kick to move past Kazakhstan's Norah Tanui and secure third place.
Bahrain's Winfred Yavi won the gold medal, while Japan's Nozomi Tanaka took silver.
Gulveer Singh also doubled his medal tally at the Games, winning silver in the men's 1500m after previously finishing second in the 10,000m.
Gulveer clocked a personal best of 3:36.72 to finish second in a closely contested race. Japan's Kazuto Iizawa took gold in an Asian Games record 3:36.35, finishing just 0.37 seconds ahead of the Indian. Another Japanese runner, Nagiya Mori, claimed bronze in 3:37.92.
Gulveer's two medals highlighted his versatility across middle- and long-distance events and added another silver to India's athletics haul.
The men's 3000m steeplechase, however, ended without a medal for India as Avinash Sable finished fourth. Sable clocked a season-best 8:21.67 but missed the podium by more than four seconds.
Japan's Ryuji Miura won gold, with compatriot Ryoma Aoki taking silver. Qatar's Zakaria Elahlaami secured bronze.
The day's other major Indian performance came from Murali Sreeshankar, who secured silver in the men's long jump despite suffering an ankle injury during the competition.
Sreeshankar produced his best effort of 8.07 metres on his second attempt, moving into second place. He retained that position for the remainder of the competition even after a heavy landing during his fourth attempt left him visibly uncomfortable.
After the landing, Sreeshankar removed his spikes and underwent an assessment. He ultimately decided not to take his fifth and sixth attempts but remained on the field as his 8.07m effort proved sufficient for silver.
China's Shi Yuhao won gold with a season-best 8.17 metres, while Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov took bronze with 8.06 metres.
Sreeshankar had also won silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, making this his second consecutive Asian Games medal in the event.
India's athletics success extended beyond the individual finals, with the women's 4x100m relay team making a dramatic comeback to qualify for the final.
The quartet of Tamanna, Sneha SS, Sudeshna Shivankar and Abinaya Rajarajan clocked a season-best 43.65 seconds to win Heat 2 and register the third-fastest overall qualifying time.
The Indian team had been placed fourth or fifth during the latter stages of the race before producing a strong finish to secure qualification.
India's impressive athletics campaign on Monday added six medals to the country's overall tally, with three silver medals and three bronze medals coming from the track and field events. Yashvir, Sreeshankar and Gulveer won silver, while Vithya, Rohit and Parul secured bronze.
The day's results also underlined the depth of India's athletics contingent, with medals coming across sprint hurdles, distance running, jumping and throwing events.
For Vithya, the achievement carried an additional historical significance. Usha's 55.42-second mark had remained one of the longest-standing national records in Indian athletics. By lowering it to 54.75 seconds on an Asian Games stage, Vithya turned a long-awaited breakthrough into a medal-winning performance.
The combined results gave India one of its most productive days in track and field at the Nagoya Games. With multiple athletes winning second medals and several others advancing in relay events, the athletics contingent continued to make a substantial contribution to India's medal campaign.
By the end of the day, India's athletics medal haul had grown significantly, with the country's athletes producing podium finishes across multiple disciplines. The performances of Vithya, Parul, Gulveer, Yashvir, Rohit and Sreeshankar provided the highlight of India's Day 10 campaign at the Asian Games.
