Sawan Barwal Claims Historic Marathon Silver as India Faces Selection Questions at Asian Games

India enjoyed a productive day at the 2026 Asian Games on Saturday, highlighted by a breakthrough performance in the marathon and a hard-fought silver medal in the men's shot put. However, the day's sporting achievements were tempered by growing scrutiny regarding the late withdrawal of several prominent athletes from the competition.

The standout moment arrived early in the morning as Sawan Barwal delivered a landmark performance in the marathon. Competing in only his second year of road racing, the 28-year-old clocked a time of 2:11:37, shaving 21 seconds off his own national record. His effort secured India’s first silver medal in the event in 44 years and marked only the fourth time an Indian athlete has reached the podium in the Asian marathon, and the first time doing so on foreign soil. Barwal remained in contention throughout the race, ultimately finishing behind Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita, who claimed gold with a time of 2:10:49.

In other track events, Prachi Choudhary provided a surprise boost to the Indian contingent by securing a bronze medal in the women’s 400m with a time of 53.21s. Elsewhere, Parul Chaudhary narrowly missed a medal in the women’s 1500m, finishing fourth despite clocking a personal best of 4:09.46. Other notable performances included Vishal T.K., who placed fifth in the men’s 400m (45.48s), Kiran Pahal, who finished fifth in the women’s 400m (53.41s), and Karthik Unnikrishnan, who took sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 16.02m. In the decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar ended the day leading the standings with 4,338 points after five events.