Indian distance runner wins bronze before joining relay quartet for silver; Asha Ilango finishes fourth in triple jump
Nagoya, Sept 2026 : India’s Seema Kumari ended a 16-year wait for a medal in the women’s 10,000m at the Asian Games, winning bronze on Thursday before returning to the track as part of the silver-medal winning mixed 4x400m relay team at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Seema clocked 32:50.05 in the 10,000m final to finish third behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka. Yavi secured the gold in 32:39.18, while Tanaka took silver in 32:41.54.
The Indian made an aggressive start to the race and led the field through the opening stages. She completed the first 1,000m in 3:18.12 and reached the 2,000m mark in 6:36.13, establishing herself among the leading contenders.
As the pace increased, Seema slipped to fourth but remained close to the leaders. She kept herself within striking distance and, with around 1,000m remaining, moved back into third position. The Indian maintained her composure through the final stages to secure the bronze and bring India its first women’s 10,000m Asian Games medal in 16 years.
Seema’s medal was followed by another podium finish for India in the mixed 4x400m relay, where the quartet of Machettira Poovamma, Vishal Thennarasu, Ramraj Vithya and Thekkinalil Manu produced a strong performance to claim silver.
India clocked 3:14.46, finishing just 0.08 seconds ahead of Vietnam, who took fourth in 3:14.54. Bahrain won the gold in a Games-record 3:12.87, while Japan finished fourth in 3:15.52.
The narrow margin over Vietnam underlined the intensity of the final, with the Indian quartet maintaining its position through the closing stages to secure another Asian Games medal.
The silver also extended India’s strong record in the mixed 4x400m relay. After winning gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and silver at Hangzhou 2023, India have now secured medals in the event at three consecutive editions.
There was disappointment for India in the women’s triple jump, however, as Asha Ilango finished fourth after being tied on her best mark with China’s Li Yi.
Asha’s best effort of 13.83m came in the third round after she opened with 13.43m and fouled her second attempt. She subsequently registered 13.63m, 13.65m and 13.59m in her final three attempts but could not improve her third-round mark.
With Li also recording 13.83m, the bronze medal was decided on the second-best jump. Li had the advantage with a superior second-best effort. Asha therefore needed to better 13.79m with her final attempt to move ahead, but managed 13.59m.
Uzbekistan’s defending champion Sharifa Davronova retained the title with a personal best of 14.35m. China’s Huang Yingying won silver with 14.12m, while Li Yi claimed bronze with 13.83m.
For India, Seema’s double podium appearance and the mixed relay silver made Thursday one of the country’s notable athletics days at the Nagoya Asian Games.
