Yesterday, triple jumper Pravin Chitravel appeared to be clutching his right calf midway through his run for the first jump in the finale and now Yashas Palaksha has sustained an injury
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India’s Tejaswin Shankar competes in the men’s decathlon high jump event at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday, September 26, 2026(Photo: IANS/Biplab Banerjee)
India’s athletics campaign at the 2026 Asian Games took another hit as 400m hurdler Yashas Palaksha pulled out of his heat after appearing to sustain a hamstring injury todayYashas barely got into the race before stoppingHe halted up before clearing the first hurdle and was eventually given a DNF (Did Not Finish) result.
It has been an injury ridden campaign for India’s track and field contingent, which is the largest among all the disciplines from the nationYashas had already missed the Indian Athletics Series Final in New Delhi on September 10, a competition that features most of the athletes selected for the Asian Games.
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His absence had led to questions over his fitness before the quadrennial event.
“His injury has been assessed by the team doctors,” an Indian team coach tells PTI after the incident.
The development comes a day after India lost two more athletes from their events because of fitness issues.
Jyothi Yarraji did not even start in the women’s 100m hurdles after feeling discomfort during her warm-up and after discussions with the coaching staff, she decided not to compete.
The Athletics Federation of India stated Yarraji trained fully during the preparation camp and was considered fit to compete.
“During her warm-up for the women’s 100m hurdles today (Saturday), she felt discomfort, and the coaching team decided to withdraw her from the race as a precautionHer long-term fitness comes first,” the federation said.
Praveen Chithravel also failed to complete his eventThe triple jumper attempted his first jump but could not finish it before walking out of the pit holding his calfHe was later taken away in a wheelchair and ended the competition with an NM (No Mark) after failing to register a valid jump.
The AFI said Chithravel had completed his training programme and had not reported any injury or medical issue to the team management before or during the competitionAccording to the federation, the decision to withdraw was made by the athlete.
The successive withdrawals brought the selection and fitness checks of the Indian athletes into focusYarraji and Chithravel were training under private entities, and a senior AFI official told PTI that the federation would seek explanations from those organisations.
The injuries became a talking point for the Indian athletics team with three athletes forced to pull out of their respective events within two daysNotably, there were more than 70 names in the athletics contingent, the largest from India in any discipline.
(With PTI inputs)
