Asian Games 2026: India’s mixed 4x400m relay team wins silver, while Seema Kumari ends a 16-year wait with bronze in the women’s 10,000m.
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India’s mixed 4x400m relay team celebrates after winning silver at Asian Games 2026(Photo: IANS)
India enjoyed a memorable day in athletics at the Asian Games 2026 as the country won two medals at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on ThursdayThe mixed 4x400m relay team secured silver, while Seema Kumari won bronze in the women’s 10,000m final.
The relay quartet of M R Poovamma, Vishal Thennarasu, Vithya Ramraj and Manu TS clocked 3:14.46 to finish second behind Bahrain.
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Asian Games 2026: How things went for India on day five? Here’s the medal tally and full roundup
India fight back to win mixed relay Silver
India did not have the ideal start to the mixed 4x400m relay final and slipped down the order in the early stagesHowever, the team stayed in the race for a podium finish before making a strong comeback.
Vishal Thennarasu helped India move closer to the medal positions before the team handed the baton to Vithya Ramraj for the final leg.
Vithya produced an excellent finish and pushed India past Vietnam in the closing stagesHer strong run helped India finish second with a time of 3:14.46.
Bahrain dominated the race to win gold in a Games-record time of 3:12.87, while Vietnam took bronze after finishing in 3:14.54.
The silver also meant India repeated its podium finish from the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, where the mixed 4x400m relay team had also won silver.
Seema Kumari ends 16-year wait
Earlier in the day, Seema Kumari created history by winning bronze in the women’s 10,000m final.
Seema finished the race in 32:50.05, while Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in 32:39.18Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka claimed silver with a time of 32:41.54.
Seema’s medal ended India’s 16-year wait for a women’s 10,000m medal at the Asian GamesThe country’s previous medals in the event came at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, where Preeja Sreedharan won gold and Kavita Raut took silver.
Seema stays in medal contention
Seema started strongly and remained part of the leading group during the early stages of the raceShe stayed close to Yavi and Tanaka as the two front-runners pulled away in the closing stages.
Yavi produced a strong final kick to secure the gold medal, while Tanaka finished second in front of her home crowdSeema maintained her position among the leading runners to cross the finish line in third.
The bronze was also India’s first athletics medal at the Asian Games 2026 and the country’s third women’s 10,000m medal in Asian Games history.
With Seema’s bronze and the mixed relay silver, India added two athletics medals to its growing medal tally on Thursday.
