Six golds to one: How India’s athletics campaign in Nagoya compared to Hangzhou

India’s athletics campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has come to an end, with the track and field contingent finishing with 24 medals: one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.

The haul placed India sixth in the athletics medal table, three places lower than its third-place finish at Hangzhou 2023, when the contingent returned with 29 medals.

While India could not replicate the six gold medals won in Hangzhou, Nagoya brought its own set of landmark performances. Indian athletes broke national records, produced personal bests, collected medals across the track and field programme and created history in events where the country had never previously stood on the Asian Games podium.

The comparison with Hangzhou is stark. India won six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze medals for 29 medals in 2023. In Nagoya, that equation became one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze for 24 medals.

Hangzhou had been India’s biggest athletics medal haul since 1951. Nagoya, meanwhile, produced more bronze medals and plenty of depth, particularly in field events, but the sharp drop in gold medals meant India could not match its overall standing from three years ago.

From six golds in Hangzhou to one in Nagoya

The biggest difference between the two campaigns came at the top of the podium.

The two individual gold medals that had defined Hangzhou were no longer available to India in Nagoya. Neeraj Chopra, the men’s javelin champion, withdrew because of an ankle injury. Avinash Sable, who had won the men’s 3000m steeplechase gold with a Games record in Hangzhou, finished fourth in Nagoya in 8:21.67 and later did not start the 5000m.

There were also changes in the colour of medals for some of India’s returning champions.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the Hangzhou men’s shot put champion, took silver this time with 20.64m. Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebi won gold with a Games record 20.81m. Toor, however, extended his remarkable run to three consecutive Asian Games medals, having won gold in Jakarta in 2018 and Hangzhou in 2023.

Parul Chaudhary, who won the women’s 5000m in Hangzhou, returned with two bronze medals in Nagoya, finishing third in both the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m. She also finished fourth in the 1500m in a personal best of 4:09.46.

The men’s 4x400m relay team also moved from gold in Hangzhou to bronze in Nagoya. Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu T.S., Jay Kumar and Vishal T.K. clocked 3:01.61, behind Japan and Qatar.

India’s only athletics gold in Nagoya came in the women’s 4x400m relay, where Kiran Pahal, Machettira R. Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3:29.69. Bahrain took silver in 3:30.21 and China bronze in 3:31.02.

It was India’s first athletics gold of the Games and continued the country’s extraordinary record in the event, with India now having won the women’s 4x400m relay at six of the last seven Asian Games.

For Poovamma, it was another addition to an already impressive Asian Games record, having also won relay golds at Incheon 2014 and Jakarta 2018. Vithya and Prachi claimed their first Asian Games gold medals.

National records, firsts and a packed podium

Nagoya was not short of history despite the reduced medal haul.

Sawan Barwal won silver in the men’s marathon in 2:11:37, setting a national record and a personal best. It was India’s first Asian Games marathon medal since 1982 and the first won outside India. Barwal became only the fourth Indian man to win an Asian Games marathon medal, after Chhota Singh, Surat Mathur and H.K. Seetharam.

Parul Chaudhary also broke the national record in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, clocking 9:08.67 for bronze. It was her second consecutive Asian Games medal in the event after her silver in Hangzhou.

Vithya Ramraj rewrote the national record in the women’s 400m hurdles, clocking 54.75 seconds for bronze. The mark erased P.T. Usha’s 55.42-second national record from the 1984 Olympics. Vithya also collected silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, making her one of India’s three-medal performers in Nagoya.

The mixed 4x100m relay team of Gurindervir Singh, Sneha S. Sathyanarayana, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra also set a national record. Their 41.06 seconds improved the previous mark of 41.35 seconds and earned India bronze.

There was another piece of history in the women’s pole vault, where Baranica Elangovan won bronze with 4.15m. It was India’s first-ever Asian Games pole vault medal, men’s or women’s.

India also ended a long wait in the women’s high jump. Pooja Singh won bronze with 1.84m, giving India its first women’s high jump medal at the Asian Games since Bobby Aloysius’ silver in 2002.

India’s complete athletics medal tally at Asian Games 2026

Gold - 1

Women’s 4x400m relay: Kiran Pahal, Machettira R. Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary, Vithya Ramraj | 3:29.69

Silver - 9

Gulveer Singh, men’s 10,000m: 28:29.38

Gulveer Singh, men’s 1500m: 3:36.72 PB

Sawan Barwal, men’s marathon: 2:11:37 PB / NR

Tajinderpal Singh Toor, men’s shot put: 20.64m

Sarvesh Kushare, men’s high jump: 2.25m

Murali Sreeshankar, men’s long jump: 8.07m

Yash Vir Singh, men’s javelin throw: 85.72m PB

Ancy Sojan, women’s long jump: 6.53m

Mixed 4x400m relay: 3:14.46

Gulveer’s 10,000m silver made him the first Indian to win two Asian Games medals in the event, following his bronze in Hangzhou. His 1500m silver was his first medal in the event.

Sreeshankar also collected his second consecutive Asian Games silver in the long jump, while Ancy Sojan matched her Hangzhou silver.

Yash Vir Singh produced a personal best of 85.72m for silver in the men’s javelin, with Rohit Yadav adding bronze at 84.35m in the absence of Chopra.

Bronze - 14

Gulveer Singh, men’s 5000m: 13:32.75

Rohit Yadav, men’s javelin throw: 84.35m

Tejaswin Shankar, men’s decathlon: 7,934 points

Seema Kumari, women’s 10,000m: 32:50.05

Baranica Elangovan, women’s pole vault: 4.15m

Manpreet Kaur, women’s shot put: 17.17m

Prachi Choudhary, women’s 400m: 53.21

Harita Bhadra, women’s 200m: 23.20

Parul Chaudhary, women’s 3000m steeplechase: 9:08.67 PB / NR

Parul Chaudhary, women’s 5000m: 15:14.61

Vithya Ramraj, women’s 400m hurdles: 54.75 PB / NR

Pooja Singh, women’s high jump: 1.84m

Men’s 4x400m relay: Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu T.S., Jay Kumar, Vishal T.K. - 3:01.61

Mixed 4x100m relay: Gurindervir Singh, Sneha S. Sathyanarayana, Animesh Kujur, Harita Bhadra - 41.06 SB / NR

Gulveer emerged as India’s standout medal collector, completing a three-medal Games with silver in the 10,000m, silver in the 1500m and bronze in the 5000m.

Vithya also finished with three medals: gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, silver in the mixed 4x400m and bronze in the 400m hurdles. Prachi Choudhary and Harita Bhadra won two medals each, while Poovamma added two relay medals.

For Parul, the two bronze medals took her Asian Games tally to four medals, adding to her 5000m gold and steeplechase silver from Hangzhou.

The final numbers, therefore, tell two different stories. Nagoya did not match Hangzhou for golds or total medals, but India still left the athletics programme with national records, historic firsts and a deeper spread of medals across events.

The final tally stands at 1 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze; 24 athletics medals and sixth place in the Asian Games athletics medal table.