Top Athletics Official Reacts After Report Claims Sawan Barwal Had No Indian Flag To Hold After Asian Games Marathon Silver

Sawan Barwal won a historic silver at Asian Games 2026.© X/Twitter

Sawan Barwal entered the history books on Saturday. He ran a stunning marathon race to hand India an unexpected silver medal at the Asian Games, shattering his own national record in the process. The 28-year-old Army man from Himachal Pradesh clocked 2 hours, 11 minutes and 37 seconds to complete the distance of 42.195km and finish behind Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita (2:10:49). China's Peiyou Feng was third with 2:12:13. After the historic run, a report claimed that Barwal did not have an Indian flag to hold after he completed the race. Adille J. Sumariwalla, World Athletics vice-president, refuted the claims.

"Absolute nonsense and ridiculous. Coaches Scott Simmons, Ronald Gerd Weigel, Younis and Ajit, recovery expert Asanha de Silva, physios Mayur Thakkar and Ishaan Marwaha, and masseur Rengith Gopi were all there," he told NDTV. "I don't know what they (the reports) are talking about."

Barwal's silver is the first medal for India in the Asian Games marathon since the bronze won by Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan in the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

Barwal is also the fourth Indian to win a medal in the Asian Games marathon. Chhota Singh and Surat Singh Mathur won gold and bronze, respectively, at the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 in New Delhi.

It is an incredible achievement for Barwal, as this is his second national record in as many races. He shifted to the marathon only this year after competing in other long-distance events such as the 5,000m, 10,000m and half marathon.

In April this year, he broke Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old national record at the NN Marathon in Rotterdam, with a time of 2:11:58.

"The way I trained, the target was to finish with a medal, not to better my national record. But it was also a national record. I am very happy to have won a medal for the country, that too after a long time (since 1982)," Barwal told PTI after the gruelling race.

Running in a mild temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, with a bit of wind and drizzle at times, Barwal led the pack for a while.

At the halfway mark, he had moved up to second place with a time of 1:05:54. After the 35km mark, only the top three runners, including Barwal, remained at the front.

"My target was to stay with the lead group up to 39-40km. So, I was in the lead group and decided to make my move in the last 1-2km. I tried to stay with the group. By around 37km, there were just three runners left, and the third runner fell behind," he said.

"I tried to maintain the same pace. The Japanese runner was ahead, but the pace was fast, so I tried to stick to my comfortable pace."

Hailing from Joginder Nagar in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, Barwal's father, Kuldeep, worked as a driver in New Delhi, while his mother, Subhadra Devi, is a homemaker.

Barwal has been a runner for over a decade, but his introduction to the sport happened by chance after a visit to a track near his home. His elder brother was on the school's track team. Watching from the sidelines, he was encouraged to train for the 1,500m at the age of 14.

His first national-level event came in the U-18 category in 2015, a 3,000m race. His first senior-level race was in the Federation Cup in 2021 in the 5,000m event. He won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2025 National Games in Dehradun. In 2019, he joined his elder brother in the Army under the sports quota.

The other Indian in the fray, Kartik Karkera, finished 17th with a time of 2:22:41.

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