SportsPosted at: Sep 29 2026 6:16PM


India break athletics gold jinx with women's 4x400m relay triumph

Aichi-Nagoya, Sept 29 (UNI) India finally ended its wait for an athletics gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday as the women's 4x400m relay quartet of Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma, Prachi and Vithya Ramaraj produced a composed run to clinch the title.
The Indian team clocked 3:29.69 in the final to finish first, with Bahrain taking silver in 3:30.21 and China claiming bronze in 3:31.02.
The victory was India's first athletics gold of the Games and came after the country had collected a string of silver and bronze medals in track and field.
The quartet held its composure in a closely contested race, with Bahrain and China staying in contention before India pulled clear in the closing stages.
For Vithya, the relay triumph capped a remarkable three-medal campaign in Aichi-Nagoya.
She had earlier helped India win silver in the mixed 4x400m relay before producing a significant individual performance in the women's 400m hurdles.
Vithya clocked 54.75 seconds to win bronze in the hurdles and broke P.T. Usha's 42-year-old national record of 55.42 seconds.
She then returned to the track on Tuesday and anchored the Indian quartet to gold, completing a gold, silver and bronze medal haul at the Games.
The gold was particularly significant for Indian athletics after the contingent had gone deep into the Games without a top podium finish.
India had already produced several notable performances in athletics on Tuesday. Gulveer Singh won bronze in the men's 5000m to complete a hat-trick of medals, while Pooja added a bronze in the women's high jump.
Gulveer clocked 13:32.75 in the 5000m, adding the bronze to his earlier silver medals in the 10,000m and 1500m.
India also secured bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay, adding another podium finish to a productive day in athletics.
However, the women's 4x400m relay remained the biggest breakthrough as India finally converted its steady run of athletics podium finishes into gold.
The victory also underlined the depth of India's women's quarter-mile programme. Poovamma brought considerable experience to the quartet, while Kiran, Prachi and Vithya combined to maintain the pressure through the four legs.
Poovamma and Vithya had earlier been part of India's mixed 4x400m relay silver-medal winning team, making Tuesday's gold another significant achievement for the two runners.
For Vithya, the journey from breaking Usha's long-standing national record to anchoring India to relay gold made the Games particularly memorable.
The women's 4x400m relay triumph finally put India atop an athletics podium at Aichi-Nagoya and provided a fitting highlight to a day of multiple track and field medals.
The Indian quartet's 3:29.69 was enough to keep Bahrain and China behind and secure India the women's 4x400m relay title.
UNI BDN
Tags: #India break athletics gold jinx with women's 4x400m relay triumph
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