New Delhi: On September 25, India won three medals in athletics at the Asian Games. Gulveer Singh won the silver medal in the men’s 10,000m race, while Manpreet Kaur and Baranica Elangovan secured bronze medals in the women’s shot put and pole vault, respectively.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated these three athletes on their outstanding performances.
Gulveer secured second place in the men’s 10,000m race, clocking a time of 28:29.38. Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew won the gold medal with a time of 28:27.51, while his teammate Albert Kiptoo took the bronze in 28:34.38. This silver medal adds to the bronze Gulveer won at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, making him the first Indian to win two Asian Games medals in the men’s 10,000m event.
In the women’s shot put event, Manpreet Kaur won the bronze medal with a best throw of 17.17 meters on her fourth attempt. China’s Song Jiayuan won the gold medal, while Zhang Linru secured the silver. Manpreet became the third Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in shot put, following Barbara Webster and Kiran Balian.
Baranica Elangovan won the bronze medal in the women’s pole vault by clearing a height of 4.15 meters. She shared the spot with Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova, who also cleared the same height. This performance made Baranica the first Indian athlete to win an Asian Games medal in the women’s pole vault.
Baranika cleared heights of 3.85m and 4.00m on her first attempts and 4.15m on her second, but all three of her attempts to clear 4.25m were unsuccessful. The 29-year-old Baranika competed in the Asian Games after twice improving India’s national pole vault record in 2026; she first cleared 4.22m in March and then raised the mark to 4.23m in May.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the three athletes and appreciated their performance and contribution to India’s athletics campaign at the Asian Games.
