Seema Kumari Ends India's 16-Year Asian Games Athletics Wait
Seema Kumari won bronze in the women’s 10,000m at the Asian Games on September 24, India’s first medal in that event since 2010 and its first athletics medal of these Games. The same evening, India’s mixed 4x400m relay team took silver, edging Vietnam by just 0.08 seconds for the podium spot. Both results explain why Asian Games athletics search interest is running high today: Gulveer Singh, India’s other big medal hope, runs the men’s 10,000m final this afternoon, with three more athletics finals on the schedule alongside his.
The Two Medals, By the Numbers
| Event | Result | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s 10,000m | Bronze, Seema Kumari | 32:50.05, behind gold medallist Winfred Yavi and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka |
| Mixed 4x400m relay | Silver, India | 3:14.46, 0.08 seconds ahead of Vietnam for the podium spot |
Bahrain won the relay gold in 3:12.87, a Games record, with host nation Japan missing the podium in fourth at 3:15.52. The Indian quartet, M.R. Poovamma, Vishal T.K., Vithya Ramraj and T.S. Manu, held their nerve over the final changeover to keep Vietnam out.
What the “16-Year Wait” Actually Refers To
The drought is specific to this one event, not a claim that Indian athletics as a whole went 16 years without an Asian Games medal, which wouldn’t be true; India won multiple track and field medals at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Games, including Avinash Sable’s 3,000m steeplechase gold in 2022. What ended this week is narrower: no Indian woman had medalled in the Asian Games 10,000m since the 2010 Guangzhou Games, where Preeja Sreedharan won gold and Kavita Raut took silver in the same race. Seema Kumari’s bronze is the first Indian finish in that specific event’s podium in 16 years, not a drought-ending moment for the sport nationally.
Who Seema Kumari Is
Seema Kumari, born January 10, 2001, is from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh and came up through the Sports Authority of India’s junior development system. Her 10,000m bronze isn’t a surprise breakthrough from nowhere: she won silver in the 5,000m at the 2025 World University Games in 15:35.86, a result that already marked her as India’s leading distance prospect heading into these Games.
What’s Still on Today’s Schedule
| Event | Athletes | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s shot put final | Manpreet Kaur, Krishna Jayasankar Menon | 3:35 pm |
| Women’s pole vault final | Sindhushree Ganesha, Baranica Elangovan | 4:33 pm |
| Men’s 10,000m final | Gulveer Singh | 5:02 pm |
| Men’s hammer throw final | Damneet Singh, Praveen Kumar | 5:10 pm |
Gulveer Singh, who won bronze in the same event at the 2023 Hangzhou Games and holds an Asian Championships gold over the distance, is trying to upgrade that medal this afternoon. For anyone converting today’s IST start times against the venue’s local clock in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, IndiaRealTime’s IST to Japan time converter runs live, and the rupee to yen rate is there for anyone tracking costs around the Games.
Athletics isn’t the only Indian medal path still open at these Games. India’s own cricket quarter-final draw depends on the Group A picture IndiaRealTime laid out before the tournament began, and today’s Afghanistan-Nepal result there factors directly into who India faces next; IndiaRealTime’s live cricket page tracks that as it develops. Elsewhere in Indian sport this month: Abhishek Sharma’s fastest-ever T20I century for India.
FAQs
What did Seema Kumari win and when?
Bronze in the women’s 10,000m at the 2026 Asian Games on September 24, clocking 32:50.05.
What does the “16-year wait” mean exactly?
No Indian woman had medalled in the Asian Games women’s 10,000m since 2010, when Preeja Sreedharan won gold and Kavita Raut silver. It refers to that one event, not a broader Indian athletics medal drought.
Who else medalled for India in athletics the same day?
India’s mixed 4x400m relay team won silver in 3:14.46, finishing 0.08 seconds ahead of Vietnam, behind gold medallist Bahrain’s Games-record 3:12.87.
What other athletics medals is India chasing today?
Gulveer Singh runs the men’s 10,000m final at 5:02 pm IST trying to upgrade his 2023 Hangzhou bronze, alongside finals in women’s shot put, women’s pole vault and men’s hammer throw.
Who is Seema Kumari?
A 25-year-old distance runner from Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, who came through the Sports Authority of India’s junior system and won 5,000m silver at the 2025 World University Games before this bronze.
Sources
- India TV News: Seema Kumari clinches bronze in women’s 10,000m at Asian Games 2026
- Olympics.com: India’s mixed 4x400m relay team wins silver, Seema Kumari bags 10000m bronze
- India.com: Who is Seema Kumari, ends 16-year wait at Asian Games
- SportsTak: India win silver in mixed 4×400 relay, lose out on gold as Bahrain set Games record
- Olympics.com: Asian Games 2026 India schedule today, September 25, Gulveer Singh to run for medal
Updated September 25, 2026.
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