Asian Games 2026: India Strike Gold in Women’s 4x400m Relay, Men Take Bronze

India Strike Gold in Women’s 4x400m Relay, Men Take Bronze at Asian Games 2026

India enjoyed a mixed but memorable evening in the 4x400m relay events at the 2026 Asian Games, with the women’s quartet winning gold and the men securing bronze. The results helped India’s athletics campaign and took the country’s overall gold-medal tally to six.

Vithya Ramraj Anchors India to Gold

The Indian women’s team of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Raju, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj produced a composed performance to finish first.

India faced an early challenge, with Kiran handing over the baton in third position. Poovamma responded strongly on the second leg, bringing India back into contention, while Prachi maintained the team’s position among the leaders.

Vithya took the baton for the final leg and immediately increased the pace. Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, the individual 400m champion, mounted a powerful late challenge, closing the gap on the leaders.

But Vithya held her form under pressure and crossed the finish line first, securing another Asian Games gold for India.

The victory capped an outstanding Games for Vithya. Just a day earlier, she had broken P. T. Usha’s long-standing national record in the women’s 400m hurdles. She had also claimed bronze in the individual 400m, making the relay victory her third medal of the competition.

• Men’s Team Claims Bronze
• India’s men’s 4x400m quartet finished third behind Japan and Qatar.

India produced several strong individual legs, including efforts from Manu T and Vishal T.K., but the team was unable to bridge the gap to the leaders during the closing stages.

Japan took the gold, Qatar secured silver and India completed the podium with bronze.

The result meant India missed out on a men’s-and-women’s relay gold-medal double, but the bronze nevertheless added to the country’s athletics medal haul.

India Moves to Six Gold Medals

The women’s relay triumph took India’s gold-medal tally at the 2026 Asian Games to six.

The two relay finals produced contrasting outcomes: India’s women held off a strong Bahrain challenge to claim gold, while the men finished behind Japan and Qatar.

For Vithya Ramraj, the women’s relay victory provided a fitting conclusion to a remarkable stretch of performances, following her national-record run and individual bronze just one day earlier.