India win women’s 4x400m relay gold at Asian Games 2026, sixth gold overall - The Indian Express

India claimed their sixth gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games and their second of the day as the women’s 4x400m relay team stormed to victory at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Tuesday. The quartet of Kiran, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3:29.69 to finish ahead of Bahrain, who took silver in 3:30.21, and China, who settled for bronze in 3:31.02.

The win extends India’s remarkable hold on the event, having now won the women’s 4x400m relay gold in six of the last seven Asian Games. It also capped a memorable day for Indian athletics, coming shortly after Neeru Dhanda’s historic trap shooting gold earlier in the day.

Vithya Ramraj, who anchored the relay, had already made headlines at these Games by breaking PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the 400m hurdles, and her run on the final leg helped seal a comfortable win over a strong Bahraini challenge. The gold completed a full set of medals for Vithya at these Games, adding to her bronze in the 400m hurdles and silver in the mixed 4x400m relay. Prachi, who won bronze in the individual 400m earlier in the competition, and Kiran and Poovamma ensured India stayed in front through the early legs.

It was a productive day for India overall, with eight medals secured across disciplines. Athletics alone contributed five, including the relay gold, Gulveer Singh’s bronze in the men’s 5000m, Pooja Singh’s bronze in the women’s high jump and a bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay, underscoring India’s growing depth on the track and field. The relay quartet’s triumph also carried symbolic weight, coming on a day when India’s women matched the men stride for stride.

With the relay gold, India’s athletics campaign at the Games drew to a close, yielding a total of 24 medals: one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze. The gold takes India’s overall medal tally at the Games to 53, including six gold, 21 silver and 26 bronze medals.