Nagoya: Seema Kumari won an Asian Games medal for India in women’s 10,000m after 16 years and picked a silver medal in the 4x400m mixed relay on a successful day at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya on Thursday.
Ace distance runner Seema Kumari ended a 16-year wait for a medal in the women’s 10,000m at the Asian Games after securing bronze in the final at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Thursday.
Seema clocked 32:50.05 to finish third behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who won gold in 32:39.18, and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, who claimed silver in 32:41.54.
The Indian long-distance runner stayed in contention throughout the race after making an impressive start. She led the field through the opening 2,000m, completing the first 1,000m in 3:18.12 before reaching the 2,000m mark in 6:36.13.
As the pace increased, Seema slipped to fourth but remained within touching distance of the leading runners. With 1,000m remaining, she moved back into third and held her position through the final stages to secure the bronze.
India secured the silver medal in the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2026 Asian Games, clocking 3:14.46 to finish second behind Bahrain in a closely fought final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here on Thursday.
The Indian quartet of Machettira Poovamma, Vishal Thennarasu, Ramraj Vithya and Thekkinalil Manu produced a strong performance to finish ahead of Vietnam, who narrowly missed out on silver after clocking 3:14.54. Bahrain won the gold medal in a games-record time of 3:12.87, while Japan finished fourth in 3:15.52.
India’s 0.08-second advantage over Vietnam at the start proved decisive as the quartet held its nerve in a thrilling battle for the podium.
The result continued India’s impressive record in the mixed 4x400m relay at the Asian Games. After winning gold at Jakarta 2018 and silver at Hangzhou 2023, India have now collected a medal in the event at three successive editions.
There was a setback too as Asha Ilango narrowly missed out on a medal in women’s triple jump, finishing fourth on countback after matching China’s Li Yi with a best effort of 13.83m.
Asha’s medal hopes came down to her final attempt after she and Li had registered the same best mark. With Li holding the advantage on the second-best jump, the Indian needed to surpass 13.79m with her last effort. She could only manage 13.59m, leaving her fourth in the final standings.
Asha began strongly with 13.43m before fouling her second attempt. She then produced her best jump of the competition in the third round, reaching 13.83m to move into medal contention and earn three additional attempts. The Indian subsequently recorded 13.63m, 13.65m and 13.59m in her final three jumps but could not improve on her third-round effort. Her season’s best entering the Games was 13.89m.
Uzbekistan’s defending champion Sharifa Davronova retained the title with a personal-best 14.35m. China’s Huang Yingying claimed silver with 14.12m, while Li Yi took bronze with 13.83m.
(IANS)
