Bureau Report

India endured a disappointing campaign at the Asian Relays 2026, with both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams failing to finish on the podium despite entering the competition with high expectations.

The women’s team finished fourth, missing out on a medal as Vietnam clinched gold in 3:31.16. China secured silver with 3:32.68, while Kazakhstan claimed bronze after clocking a personal best of 3:33.87.

The men’s team fared even worse, finishing fifth in a race won by Vietnam, whose quartet produced a personal best of 3:02.60. China took silver in 3:03.23, while Sri Lanka completed the podium with 3:03.33.

The results raise uncomfortable questions for Indian athletics, particularly given the level of support available to the country’s relay programmes.

India’s relay athletes benefit from year-round training at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Trivandrum, work under foreign coaches and receive extensive support through the Sports Authority of India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Yet despite access to infrastructure, coaching and funding that many Asian nations can only aspire to, India failed to secure a medal in either relay event.

Some observers may point out that the men’s team was not India’s strongest possible combination and could be viewed as a second-string squad.

That argument, however, becomes harder to make in the women’s event.

Under the Athletics Federation of India’s current campers-only selection policy, the relay squad was effectively the best available combination from the national camp system. If the athletes selected from the country’s premier training setup were unable to reach the podium at the continental level, it raises larger questions about the effectiveness of the current high-performance structure.

The performances also come at a time when several Asian nations are making significant strides in relay running. Vietnam’s gold medals in both men’s and women’s events underline the rapid progress being made by countries that have traditionally not been considered relay powerhouses.

For India, the Asian Relays were expected to be a stepping stone towards bigger targets such as the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Instead, the competition has highlighted the gap that still exists between investment and results.