India’s women win Asian Games 4x400m relay gold in dramatic finish

India’s women’s 4x400m relay team won gold at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday, 29 September, ending the country’s wait for an athletics title at the competition.

Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3 minutes 29.69 seconds to finish ahead of Bahrain, which took silver in 3:30.21, and China, which claimed bronze in 3:31.02.

The victory came on the final day of athletics competition and gave India its first gold in track and field at the 2026 Games, after several athletes had finished on the podium without winning their events.

Kiran ran the opening leg but handed over the baton in third place. Poovamma recovered ground on the second leg, moving India into the lead before Prachi maintained the advantage and passed the baton to Vithya for the final 400 meters.

Vithya faced a late challenge from Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who had started the anchor leg in last place but rapidly closed the gap. The Indian runner held on to secure gold, with Bahrain finishing 0.52 seconds behind.

The result was particularly significant for Vithya, who had broken P.T. Usha’s long-standing national record in the women’s 400m hurdles a day earlier. The relay victory brought her third medal of the Games.

India also won bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay, with Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu T, Jay Kumar and Vishal T.K. finishing in 3:01.61.

Vishal resisted a late challenge from Thailand’s Joshua Atkinson to secure third place for India, which had entered the competition as the defending champion in the men’s relay.

India finished its athletics campaign with 24 medals, comprising one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.

The women’s relay title was India’s sixth gold medal across all sports at the Games at the end of Tuesday’s competition.

The victory also reversed the result of the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where Bahrain had beaten India to gold in the same event. India finished second in that race, clocking 3:27.85.

For Vithya, the Nagoya campaign marked another milestone. On 28 September, she won bronze in the 400m hurdles in 54.75 seconds, breaking PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record of 55.42 seconds, set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.