NAGOYA: The Indian quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi, and Vithya Ramraj produced an exceptional performance to claim the gold medal in women's 4x400m relay at the Asian Games here on Tuesday, finally breaking the yellow metal jinx in the ongoing edition.
The Indian team won the top prize with a time of 3:29.69 minutes, giving the country its first gold medal in track and field events at the ongoing games. Bahrain and China finished second and third respectively.
Earlier, Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Sneha Sathyanarayana and Harita Bhadra won the bronze medal in the 4x100m mixed relay final after clocking a season best time of 41.06 seconds.
India's Pooja Singh fared well below her personal best with a leap of 1.84 metre but that was enough to clinch a bronze medal in women's high jump. The 19-year-old was leading her event for a good part before squandering the advantage with a poor effort.
This was after India's Gulveer Singh continued his spectacular run of form at the ongoing games by winning a bronze medal in men's 5000m with a time of 13:32.75, completing a hat-trick of podium finishes in the Japanese city.
In the day's last track and field event, Dharamveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil, Jay Kumar and Vishal Thennarasu clocked 3:01.61 to finish third behind Japan and Qatar in the men's 4x400m relay final.
Tuesday's triumph added a remarkable new chapter to the personal story of Poovamma, one of India's greatest track and field stars. Having previously won gold with the 4 × 400m relay team at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games --and competed in the 2016 Olympics -- her legacy continues to grow.
As far as Vithya is concerned, she entered the event after breaking the legendary PT Usha's 42-year-old national record in the women's 400m hurdles on way to winning a bronze medal with a personal best of 54.75 seconds here on Monday.
On Monday, running the crucial final anchor leg alongside teammates Kiran Pahal, Poovamma, and Prachi, Vithya kicked into top gear on the final bend to edge past fierce competition from China and Bahrain, helping India to its first athletics gold of these Games.
Kiran Pahal started the race and handed over in third before veteran R Poovamma moved India into the lead. Prachi kept them in front before Vithya took the baton for the final leg.
This is Gulveer's third podium finishes at the 2026 games, having won silver medals in men's 1500m and 10000m events earlier in the multisport extravaganza.
Gulveer thus became the second Indian man and fourth from the country to win three medals in track and field events in a single edition of the continental games. Before Gulveer, Lavy Pinto (New Delhi 1951, 3 medals), PT Usha (Seoul, 1986, 4 medals) and KM Beenamol (Busan 2002, 3 medals) had achieved a similar feat.
After Gulveer, the Indian quartet ended third with a time of 41.06 in 4x400m mixed relay, having finished second behind China in the heats.
China won the gold with a time of 40.78 seconds, while Thailand took silver after finishing in 40.87 seconds.
In the women's hammer throw, Tanya Chaudhary finished fourth with a 65.35m throw, while compatriot Anushka Yadav ended fifth with 64.56.
India's Dev Kumar Meena created a national record in men's pole vault with an effort of 5.50m but that was only enough to take him to seventh position. India's Pooja Olla and Mohammed Afsal finished seventh and eighth respectively in men's and women's 800m.