Asian Games, athletics: Seema Kumari wins bronze in women's 10,000m
What's the story
Seema Kumari has brought home a medal for India after a gap of 16 years in the women's 10,000m event at the 2026 Asian Games. She won the bronze medal at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Thursday. Seema clocked a time of 32:50.05 to finish third behind Bahrain's Winfred Yavi and Japan's Nozomi Tanaka, who took gold and silver respectively with times of 32:39.18 and 32:41.54.
Race strategy
Seema ran a smart race
Seema ran a smart race, staying in the medal hunt till the end.
She began with a strong start, leading the pack through the first 2,000m.
However, as the pace picked up, she dropped to fourth but stayed close to the leaders.
With 1,000m left in the race, Seema regained her position and held onto it till the end to clinch bronze.
Relay success
India win silver in mixed relay
India's mixed relay team also shone at the Asian Games, winning a silver medal in the 4x400m event.
The Indian quartet of Machettira Poovamma, Vishal Thennarasu, Ramraj Vithya and Thekkinalil Manu clocked a time of 3:14.46 to finish second behind Bahrain in a nail-biting final.
They finished ahead of Vietnam by just 0.08 seconds after Bahrain won gold with a games-record time of 3:12.87.
Near miss
Asha Ilango finishes 4th in triple jump
Asha Ilango narrowly missed out on a medal in the women's triple jump, finishing fourth on countback after matching China's Li Yi with a best effort of 13.83m.
Her hopes came down to her final attempt but she could only manage 13.59m, leaving her fourth in the final standings.
Uzbekistan's defending champion Sharifa Davronova retained the title with a personal-best 14.35m while China's Huang Yingying claimed silver with 14.12m and Li Yi took bronze with 13.83m.