India break athletics gold jinx with women's 4x400m relay win
India finally broke their athletics gold jinx at the Asian Games 2026, doing so in spectacular fashion as the women’s 4x400m relay team of Vithya Ramraj, Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma and Prachi stormed to gold in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, September 29.
The Indian quartet clocked 3:29.69 to finish ahead of Bahrain, who claimed silver in 3:30.21, while China took bronze in 3:31.02. The victory gave India their first athletics gold of the Games after a string of silver and bronze medals.
Kiran Pahal opened the race and handed over in third. Poovamma then produced a strong second leg to move India into the lead, before Prachi kept the team ahead. Ramraj took the baton for the anchor leg and held off Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Nasr in the closing stages to seal gold for India.
India were in danger of finishing an Asian Games campaign without an athletics gold for the first time since the 1994 Hiroshima Games. However, the women’s relay team came through in emphatic fashion to ensure India would not leave the Asiad without the top prize in athletics. Courtesy: Asian Games VITHYA RAMRAJ COMPLETES MEMORABLE MEDAL HAULThe gold capped a memorable campaign for Vithya Ramraj, who claimed her third medal of the Games. She had earlier won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay before securing bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles.
In the 400m hurdles final, Vithya clocked 54.75 seconds to finish third. She finished behind UAE’s Mariam Kareem, who won gold in 54.31 seconds, and Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems, who took silver in 54.58 seconds. India’s Anu Raghavan finished fifth.
Vithya returned to the track on Tuesday and played a key role in India’s gold-medal-winning relay quartet. The victory completed a remarkable three-medal haul for the athlete at Aichi-Nagoya.
Her bronze in the 400m hurdles was particularly significant, with her 54.75 seconds eclipsing PT Usha’s national record of 55.42 seconds, which had stood for 42 years. She then added another silver as part of the mixed 4x400m relay team before finishing her campaign with gold.AND THE WOMEN HAVE DONE IT. GOLD GOLD GOLD FOR INDIA IN THE WOMEN’S RELAY 4X4OOMTHE GOLD HAS FINALLY COME FOR INDIAN ATHLETICS.#athleticsindia #asiangames2026 #gold #aichinagoya2026 pic.twitter.com/VPhjljCYaw— nnis Sports|Asian GamesAthletics (@nnis_sports) September 29, 2026HOW INDIA'S DAY IN ATHLETICS WENT
India’s athletics campaign on Tuesday had already produced medals before the women’s 4x400m relay took centre stage. Pooja won bronze in the women’s high jump, while Gulveer Singh added bronze in the men’s 5000m with a time of 13:32.75.
Gulveer completed a hat-trick of medals after earlier winning silver in the 10,000m and 1500m. India also secured bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay.
India signed off in style with another bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay. Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil, Jay Kumar and Vishal Thennarasu clocked 3:01.61, finishing behind Japan (3:00.75) and Qatar (3:00.93) in a thrilling final.
There were disappointments too, with Avinash Sable not starting the men’s 5000m final after missing the podium in the 3000m steeplechase. In the women’s hammer throw, Tanya Chaudhary finished fourth with a personal best of 63.35m, while Anushka Yadav was fifth with 64.56m.
But the evening ultimately belonged to India’s women’s 4x400m relay team. Their performance sealed gold, ending India’s wait for an athletics gold at the 2026 Asian Games.- Ends
