Nagoya: India capped their athletics campaign at the Asian Games 2026 with a bronze medal in the men’s 4x400m relay, clocking a 3:01.61 at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here on Tuesday.
The Indian quartet of Dharamveer Choudhary, Manu Theekkinil, Jay Kumar and Vishal Thennarasu produced a determined effort to finish third, completing a memorable evening for Indian relay athletics after the women’s 4x400m team had clinched gold earlier in the day.
Japan won the gold in 3:00.75, while Qatar took silver in 3:00.93. India finished 0.86 seconds behind the champions.
Dharamveer gave India a steady start before handing over to Manu with the team firmly in medal contention. Manu was crowded during the second leg and had to move around the field, leaving India in fourth when Jay Kumar took over.
Jay responded strongly, moving India into the medal positions and briefly pushing the team into second place behind Japan. However, the Indian side slipped back to fourth during the final exchange. Vishal then produced a strong closing leg, making up ground to bring India back into third.
India entered the final with a season-best 3:00.32, which was the fastest among the finalists. Japan came in with a 3:00.19 season-best and eventually converted that form into gold.
Earlier, India’s women produced a golden finish in the 4x400m relay, with Kiran Pahal, M.R. Poovamma, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj combining to win the title in 3:29.69. Bahrain finished second in 3:30.21, while China claimed bronze in 3:31.02.
Vithya delivered a strong anchor leg to seal gold for India, adding another medal to an impressive Asian Games campaign. The relay gold took her medal tally to three after she had earlier won silver and bronze in her individual events.
The Indian women had held their nerve in a closely fought final before Vithya brought them home, providing a fitting conclusion to her campaign.
India had also secured bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay earlier on Tuesday, with Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayana, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra clocking 41.06 seconds.
The quartet not only finished third but also lowered the National Record of 41.35 seconds set by Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh and Sneha at the World Relays 2026 in Gaborone. China won the mixed relay gold in 40.78 seconds, and Thailand took silver in 40.87 seconds.
(IANS)
