Asian Games 2026 Day 10: A national record, a handful of medals, but no gold

The wet conditions and slip-prone surface shaped a day of near-misses and notable national milestones. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

A national record was broken and some personal marks were bested as the Paloma Mizuho Athletics Stadium added more medals to India’s kitty on Monday, of both hues except for the golden one India desperately craved.

Three years ago, Vithya Ramraj ran the 400m hurdles in 55.42 seconds, equalling the longest standing Indian track record held by the legendary P.T. Usha for 42 long years since 1984. It helped her top the group before eventually winning bronze in Hangzhou. On Monday here, the 28-year-old won another bronze but this one was a lot more special – the 54.75 seconds finally made her the sole national record holder, in the presence of Usha, now the IOA president. Anu Raghavan, meanwhile, also ran a new personal best in 55.88 seconds to finish fifth.

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If Vithya found herself in elite company, the javelin throw continued to be the country’s reliable medal-earners with India managing a double podium finish. In Neeraj Chopra’s absence, Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh were expected to shoulder the burden and both stepped up on the big stage.

Yashvir, in particular, justified his last-minute inclusion as Neeraj’s replacement, throwing to 85.72m for a personal best and silver. In fact, his best three throws came in the 6th, 5th and 4th attempts respectively as Yashvir went hard to match up to leader Rumesh Pathirage but the Sri Lankan world leader and pre-tournament favourite dug deep in wet and challenging conditions for 88.55m in his final throw and gold. Rohit managed 84.35m for bronze.

Gulveer Singh too added a second silver to his 2026 tally here with a personal best timing of 3:36.72 in the 1500m – after leading for more than 1.5 laps and looking set for the top spot before Kazuto Iizawa overtook him in the final 20m. Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar too got his second silver in as many Games with a best jump of 8.07m.

Unfortunately, the constant downpour meant the track and the take-off board were extremely slippery and Sreeshankar’s left leg slipped dangerously in his fourth attempt, the youngster landing awkwardly on the pit and twisting his ankle. He skipped his last two attempts but the second jump was good enough to ensure him a second spot behind China’s Shi Yuhao’s 8.17m.

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Also missing out on a podium for the first time 32 years was women’s discus throw, Seema Kaliramna’s personal best of 59.88m good enough for a fourth position. Seema, who had won bronze at the CWG recently, was unable to emulate another Seema (Punia), this one a legend of the sport with five consecutive medals from 2006-2022.

The biggest upset, however, was defending champion and gold favourite Avinash Sable finishing fourth in 8:21.67 in the 3000m Steeplechase – his best time in only his second race this year but a far cry from the Games record of 8:19.50 last time around. Parul Chaudhary took home a second bronze in the 5000m.