Indian Athletes Face Multiple Near-Misses as Gold Medals Remain Elusive at Asian Games

Indian Express•Published: Sep 27, 2026 11:53 PM IST•Covered by 2 sources

Indian athletes experienced a series of narrow defeats at the Asian Games, missing out on multiple gold medals in track and field events. Despite strong performances, several competitors were edged out in final rounds, leaving the nation still searching for its first athletics gold of the current games.

Long Jump Heartbreak: Ancy Sojan secured a silver medal after being surpassed by China’s Yingying Huang by just 2cm in the final jump, while Shaili Singh narrowly missed the podium in fourth place.
Decathlon Disappointment: Tejaswin Shankar finished with a bronze medal in the decathlon, expressing significant frustration as he felt his performance fell short of his potential for gold or silver.
High Jump Opportunity: Sarvesh Kushare claimed silver in the high jump, missing a golden opportunity to capitalize on the absence of star athlete Mutaz Barshim.

The Context & Background

These results highlight a challenging campaign for the Indian contingent, which is struggling to replicate the six-gold performance achieved at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. With the competition nearing its conclusion, the gap between India's medal contention and actual gold conversion has become a major point of concern.

Why it matters:The string of near-misses underscores the intense competitive pressure at the elite continental level and highlights the difficulty of converting podium potential into gold. This performance gap impacts India's overall standing in the medal table and raises questions about the country's ability to maintain momentum in high-stakes international athletics.

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