On October 3, the tenth day of the Asian Games came to a close with India adding eight more medals to its collection. Notably, Indian athletes Annu Rani and Parul Chaudhary achieved a historic milestone by winning the country’s first-ever gold medals in women’s javelin throw and women’s 5000m events, respectively. Annu Rani achieved gold with a remarkable throw of 62.92 meters, marking her second Asian Games medal, having previously won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games.
In the women’s 5000m final, Parul Chaudhary secured gold by crossing the finish line in 15:14.75. The 28-year-old athlete had earlier won silver in the women’s 5000m at the Asian Championships earlier in the year, making this her second medal at the 19th Asian Games, following her silver in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Furthermore, in the men’s 800m event, Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath earned a silver medal with a time of 1:48.43.
Athlete Tejaswin Shankar clinched the silver medal in the men’s decathlon final 1500m race, recording a time of 4:48.32. Shankar had previously excelled in the high jump, long jump, and 400m race, accumulating a total score of 7666, surpassing the previous Indian men’s decathlon national record by eight points. India’s Praveen Chitharavel also secured the bronze medal in the men’s triple jump. Additionally, Vithya Ramraj claimed a bronze medal in the Women’s 400m Hurdles.
In water sports, Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam secured the bronze medal in the men’s canoe double 1000m final, marking India’s second-ever canoe medal in Asian Games history. The first bronze in this event was won by Johnny Rommel and Siji Kumar Sadanandan at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.
India’s Lovlina Borgohain secured her place in the women’s 75kg gold medal bout, also earning an Olympic quota. Preeti Pawar, the 2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist, secured a bronze, and Narender Berwal settled for bronze in the men’s +92kg category.
