Thirty minutes of persistence on the track followed by three of absolute drama saw day one of track and field competition end with a bronze and silver for India as the country opened its Asian Games athletics medal tally in Nagoya on Thursday (September 24, 2026).
The 4x400m mixed relay team rode on tactical personnel changes, impressive lead-off and anchor legs and a stroke of luck to finish in 3:14.46, earning silver in the final event of the day at the Paloma Mizuho stadium. Minutes before, Seema had ended a 16-year drought in 10,000m, willing herself past the line in 32:50.05 to come third. Interestingly, India was second in its heat in the morning, clocking 3:16.23, but replaced Jay Kumar and Kiran with Vishal and Vithya for the final. Bahrain, led by the indefatigable Salwa Eid Naser, retained top spot with a new Games record of 3:12.87. Anamika A.K. was seventh in heptathlon after four events with 3177 points and Pooja was ninth with 3159 points.
Because the best runners will always wait for the final laps, “I led for the first couple of laps and then realised that no one was going to [take the] lead. Because this is my first competition at this level,” Seema said, i changed my strategy and decided to run like others. She did try to retrieve it and complete but the team was disqualified by the officials. Even though the UAE protested, the result stayed. Both Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh advanced to the semifinals from their respective 100m heats.
The UAE, which had led for a large part of the race, fumbled towards the end, with Mariam Kareem dropping the baton just before the final lap.