Athletics Day 2 Recap: Gulveer Singh, Manpreet Kaur, Baranica Elangovan win medals at Asian Games 2026
(Courtesy : @VPIndia/Twitter)
Baranica Elangovan clinched India’s first-ever medal in women’s pole vault
India added three medals to its athletics tally on Friday at Asian Games 2026 with Gulveer Singh winning silver in the men’s 10,000m and Manpreet Kaur and Baranica Elangovan taking bronze in the women’s shot put and pole vault respectively.
Vishal TK also progressed to the men’s 400m final, while India’s men’s 100m campaign ended in the semi-finals as Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur failed to qualify. Kiran Pahal and Prachi Choudhary advanced to the women’s 400m final.
The women’s heptathlon also concluded, with Pooja finishing sixth and Anamika Kozhinjaparambil eighth.
Also Read: Asian Games 2026: India’s updated schedule for Day 7 (September 26)
Gulveer Singh wins silver in men’s 10,000m
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Gulveer Singh won silver in the men’s 10,000m final in 28:29.38.
Bahrain’s Balew B won gold in 28:27.51, while compatriot Kiptoo A took bronze in 28:34.38. Gulveer finished just 1.87 seconds behind the winner.
The medal adds to Gulveer’s international record. He won silver in the 10,000m at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in 27:49.78, becoming the first Indian man to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the event. He had also won bronze in the same event at the 2023 Asian Games.
Related: Asian Games 2026: Gulveer Singh wins silver in men’s 10,000m
Manpreet Kaur bags bronze in women’s shot put
Manpreet Kaur secured bronze in the women’s shot put with a best throw of 17.17m.
China’s Song J won gold with 19.40m, while Zhang L took silver with 18.14m.
Manpreet finished fourth at the 2026 Commonwealth Games with 17.49m and fifth at the 2023 Asian Games with 16.25m. The bronze in Nagoya marks her return to the Asian Games podium.
Related: Asian Games 2026: Manpreet Kaur wins bronze in women’s shot put
Baranica Elangovan wins historic pole vault bronze
Baranica Elangovan secured a joint-bronze medal in the women’s pole vault after clearing 4.15m, the same height as Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova.
Japan’s Morota M won gold with 4.55m, while China’s Niu C took silver with 4.50m.
The medal is India’s first ever Asian Games medal in women’s pole vault. Elangovan had set the national record at 4.23m earlier this year before Sindhushree Ganesha raised the mark to 4.25m in June.
Related: Asian Games 2026: Baranica Elangovan wins bronze in women’s pole vault
Vishal TK qualifies for men’s 400m final
Vishal Thennarasu progressed to the men’s 400m final.
Vishal entered the Asian Games as the first Indian man to break the 45-second barrier after setting a national record of 44.98 seconds earlier this year. He was also part of India’s silver-medal-winning mixed 4x400m relay team on the opening day.
He will return for the men’s 400m final on Saturday.
Gurindervir and Animesh bow out in 100m semi-finals
India’s men’s 100m campaign ended in the semi-finals, with both Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur missing out on the final.
Gurindervir finished fifth in 10.32 seconds, while Animesh clocked 10.38 seconds to finish seventh.
Pooja finishes sixth as heptathlon concludes
Pooja finished sixth in the women’s heptathlon with 5,368 points. Anamika finished eighth with 5,234 points.
Kiran Pahal and Prachi Choudhary qualify for women’s 400m final
Kiran Pahal finished second in Heat 2 in 53.44 seconds to secure automatic qualification, while Prachi Choudhary clocked 53.46 seconds in Heat 3 to progress through the next fastest qualification route.
Both will compete in the women’s 400m final on Saturday.
Damneet Singh and Praveen Kumar miss out in hammer throw
Damneet Singh finished ninth with 67.56m, while Praveen Kumar finished 11th with 65.24m.
India takes athletics tally to five medals
India ended Day 2 with a total of five athletics medals having two silver and three bronze.
Gulveer’s silver and the bronze medals won by Manpreet and Baranica added to Seema’s women’s 10,000m bronze and India’s mixed 4x400m relay silver from the opening day.
What to expect from India on Day 3 of Athletics?
Sawan Barwal and Kartik Karkera will compete in the men’s marathon, while Tejaswin Shankar and Thowfeeq Noushad begin their decathlon campaigns.
Animesh Kujur will feature in the men’s 200m, while Harita Bhadra and Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland compete in the women’s 200m.
Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan Edappilly will be in women’s long jump, while Jyothi Yarraji and Nandhini Kongan begin their 100m hurdles campaign.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Karanveer Singh will compete in the men’s shot put final, with Praveen Chithravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan in the men’s triple jump final. Gulveer Singh and Yoonus Shah will feature in the men’s 1500m heats.
Kiran Pahal and Prachi Choudhary return for the women’s 400m final, while Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi competes in the men’s 400m final. The women’s 1500m final will also feature Pooja and Parul Chaudhary.
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