On September 29, India won the Asian Games 2026 women’s 4x400m relay, giving the country its first gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Kiran Pahal, M.R. Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Vithya Ramraj finished the final in 3:29.69, ahead of Bahrain and China.
The Indian quartet mounted a strong comeback after starting behind the leaders and held on in the final stages to secure the gold medal.
India Wins Women’s 4x400m Relay
The Indian women’s 4x400m relay team finished first at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, September 29.
India clocked 3:29.69 in the final. Bahrain finished second in 3:30.21, while China took the bronze medal with 3:31.02.
Women’s 4x400m Relay Final Results
| Position | Country | Time |
| Gold | India | 3.29.69 |
| Silver | Bahrain | 3.30.21 |
| Bronze | China | 3.31.02 |
India finished 0.52 seconds ahead of Bahrain and 1.33 seconds ahead of China.
How India Won the Asian Games 2026 Relay Final
India’s race did not begin with the team in front. Kiran Pahal ran the opening leg and handed over the baton with India in third position. M.R. Poovamma then made up ground and moved India into the lead.
Prachi Choudhary maintained India’s position before handing the baton to Vithya Ramraj for the final leg.
Vithya had the task of protecting India’s advantage against Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Nasser, who produced a strong closing run and reduced the gap. Ramraj held her position through the finish, allowing India to cross the line first in 3:29.69. The performance gave India its first athletics gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games.
Who Won Gold for India?
The gold-winning Indian quartet was:
- Kiran Pahal
- M.R. Poovamma
- Prachi Choudhary
- Vithya Ramraj
The four athletes combined to complete the 1,600-metre relay in 3:29.69.
For Poovamma, the victory was another Asian Games women’s 4x400m relay gold after she had been part of India’s title-winning teams in 2014 and 2018.
Vithya Ramraj Finishes a Memorable Asian Games Campaign
Vithya Ramraj was one of the key figures in India’s athletics campaign at Aichi-Nagoya.
A day before the relay final, on September 28, Ramraj won bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles and clocked 54.75 seconds. The performance broke the national record of 55.42 seconds that had been held by PT Usha since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Ramraj had equalled Usha’s mark at the 2023 Asian Games. Her 54.75-second performance in Aichi-Nagoya lowered the record by 0.67 seconds.
She then returned to the track for the women’s 4x400m relay final and ran the anchor leg as India secured gold.
India’s Long 4x400m Relay Record at the Asian Games
The 2026 victory continues India’s strong record in the women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Games.
India had won the event at five consecutive editions from 2002 through 2018. The winning run covered the 2002 Busan, 2006 Doha, 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Games. India did not win the event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where the team finished second.
The 2026 victory at the Asian Games 2026 women’s 4x400m relay therefore restored India to the top of the podium in the event.
India’s Athletics Campaign at Asian Games 2026
The women’s 4x400m relay gold was India’s only athletics gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games.
India’s athletics campaign finished with 24 medals: one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze, according to the final athletics results reported after the relay event.
The relay victory came on a productive final day for Indian athletics, which also included medals in the men’s 5000m, women’s high jump, mixed 4x100m relay and men’s 4x400m relay.
India’s men’s 4x400m relay team won bronze in 3:01.61, while the women’s team supplied the athletics campaign’s gold-medal finish.
The Significance of Women’s Relay Gold
The result was significant on several levels. It ended India’s wait for an athletics gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games and returned the women’s 4x400m relay title to India after the silver medal in 2022.
It also added another Asian Games relay gold to Poovamma’s career, while Vithya Ramraj completed a three-medal campaign at the Games after winning silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the 400m hurdles.
Asian Games 2026 women’s 4x400m relay is a major win for Indian athletics; the women’s relay final provided the top podium finish that had remained missing from the country’s medal haul until September 29.
