Only 4 personal bests broken in track & field even as athletes won 38% of India’s Asian Games medals

India won one gold medal in athletics at the Asian Games 2026. But the personal records of three of India’s individual silver medallists surpass the gold-winning performances at the tournament.

Illustration: Shruti Naithani | ThePrint

New Delhi: India’s athletics medal tally at the Asian Games 2026 would have looked quite different if the athletes had maintained their personal bests. The country snagged all of one gold medal in athletics at Aichi-Nagoya. But the personal records of three of India’s individual silver medallists surpass the gold-winning performances at the tournament.

Sarvesh Anil Kushare tied with his Chinese rival in high jump by clearing 2.25 metres, and ended up winning the silver by countback (a tie-breaker technique). No tie-breaker would have been required, however, if Kushare had repeated his personal record, 2.28 metres.

Murali Sreeshankar won a silver in men’s long jump with an 8.07-metre jump. His personal best, meanwhile, stands at 8.41 metres, far ahead of the gold-winning 8.17m.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor won the silver in shot put with a 20.64-m throw. The gold went to a throw of 20.81 metres, which lags behind Toor’s personal best of 21.77m.

Track-and-field events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games concluded on Tuesday, even though the tournament itself continues until 4 October (Sunday). As of Thursday afternoon, athletics was the largest contributor (38 per cent) to India’s medals tally of 63 at the tournament.

NAGOYA, WE WILL MISS YOU 🇮🇳💙

Six days ago, 🇮🇳 walked into Mizuho Park with a dream. Tonight, we walk out with 24 MEDALS, a GOLD, and a thousand memories. 🥹
🏅 1 🥇 | 9 🥈 | 14 🥉 2️⃣4️⃣ PODIUMS FOR INDIA
📊 THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE PRIDE 🏃 14 medals on the track and road 🎯 9 in… pic.twitter.com/klHEadjybG

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) September 29, 2026

Out of India’s 24 athletics medals, four were for team and 20 for individual events. Among the 20 individual winners, only four—Vithya Ramraj, Sawan Barwal, Parul Chaudhary Yashvir Singh—were able to improve their personal bests.

Trading silver for bronze

Two of India’s individual athletics medallists could have traded their bronzes for silvers by maintaining their personal bests: Tejaswin Shankar (men’s decathlon) and Rohit Yadav (men’s javelin).

With a score of 7,934 points, Tejaswin Shankar lost the silver to China’s Xinghua Chen, who notched 8,012 (the gold medallist scored 8,123). Shankar’s personal record is 8,057 points.

Graphic credit: Shruti Naithani

Rohit Yadav won a bronze in men’s javelin with a throw of 84.35m. While his personal best, 87.68m, would have helped him best the silver winner (India’s Yashvir Singh, 85.72m), it would have had no implications for India’s tally (the gold went to Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, with an 88.55-m throw).

Harita Bhadra, who clocked 23.20 seconds to win bronze in women’s 200m, is another athlete who fell short of her personal best (23.14 seconds). Maintaining her record, however, would not have affected her medal, as it is higher than the times clocked by the gold (22.78 seconds) and silver (22.93) winners.

The same applies to Baranica Elangovan, who won bronze in pole vault with a clearance of 4.15m. Her personal best, 4.23m, is better than her Asian Games 2026 performance, but not enough to have scored her the gold (4.55m) or silver (4.50m).

Manpreet Kaur, who won the bronze in shot put, is another example in this category. Her 17.17-m throw was well below her 18.06-m personal best, but even the latter would not have been enough to score a silver (18.14m).

Four athletes improve previous bests

The four medalists who improved their personal bests are Yashvir Singh (javelin), Sawan Barwal (marathon), Parul Chaudhary (3,000m steeplechase), and Vithya Ramraj (400m hurdles).

Yashvir Singh, who won a silver, improved his previous best by 31cm—to 85.72m from 85.41m.

Sawan Barwal, who also won a silver, improved his previous best of 2:11:58 by clocking 2:11:37. His run also made a new national record as he broke India’s wait of over 44 years for a marathon medal.

Parul Chaudhary improved her personal best in women’s 3,000-m steeplechase by 3.79 seconds, clocking 9:08.67 against 9:12.46. Her bronze-winning performance at Aichi-Nagoya also set a new national record. She won a medal in the 5000-m category too, but without improving her personal best.

Vithya Ramraj, meanwhile, had one of the most significant record-breaking moments. She improved her personal best of 55.42 seconds by clocking 54.75 seconds in the Asian Games, shaving off 0.67 seconds. In doing this, she broke the national record held for more than four decades by P.T. Usha.

According to an Athletics Federation of India post on X on 29 September, Gulveer Singh set a personal best of 3:36.72 in the Asian Games to win a silver in 1,500m. But according to Olympics website, his personal best in 1,500m is 3:36.58.

(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)