| India’s athletic contingent finished the 2026 Asian Games with 24 medals – one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze, down from 29 medals and six golds in the previous edition. That earlier total was India’s best athletics haul since the inaugural Games in 1951, when Indian athletes won 34 medals. The team also recorded five national records, 11 personal bests and three season bests.
Several of the things that went wrong were visible long before the team left. Here are the changes that are expected or needed before next season.
1. Jerry Lee Holness
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced Jamaica’s Jerry Lee Holness as the dedicated women’s 400m coach at a camp at NCOE Trivandrum, with responsibility for the women’s 400m and 400m Relay squads.
He arrived with high expectations as he had mentored Olympic and world champions Elaine Thompson-Herah and Nesta Carter. Almost two seasons later, the results are hard to find.
Compare that with another Jamaican coach, Jason Dawson, who is credited with India’s rise in the 400m, including Vishal TK’s 44.98s national record.
The women’s 4x400m relay team won India’s only athletics gold of this Asian Games, but a closer look complicates the picture. Of the four runners, Kiran Pahal, Vithya Ramraj and Prachi trained mostly outside the camp and joined it after the Inter-State Championships which was the qualification for Asian Games 2026, which technically met AFI’s campers-only policy.
The individual numbers point the same way. The season’s fastest Indian woman over 400m is Vithya Ramraj at 51.96s, a 400m hurdler who trains outside the camp under Nehpal Singh Rathore. The second-fastest is Aishwarya Mishra, also a non-camper, at 52.51s.
Last season’s rankings tell a similar story. Aishwarya topped the list at 51.12s. Of the top four, only Rupal, second at 52.41s, was a camper, and she trained under Dawson, not Holness.
Will AFI look for a change before the 2028 Olympics, or give Holness more time? Next season includes the Asian Relay Championships and the 2027 World Championships.
2. Radhakrishnan Nair
NNIS Sports reported on 17th July 2026 that India’s chief athletics coach, Radhakrishnan Nair, is expected to retire as AFI prepares to appoint a successor. The federation has posted the job opening on its website and is inviting applications. Sources indicate that the frontrunner is a throws coach who has worked with several of India’s elite throwers, though no decision has been made.
When we reached out to coaches and athletes to ask what they wanted the next chief coach to address, here’s what they had to say:
“Focus more on Indian coaches and don’t be entirely dependent on foreign coaches,” said a coach who wished to remain anonymous.
“Communication with athletes should be smoother and more respectful. There have been instances of male athletes being spoken to using inappropriate language,” said a member of the support staff.
Meanwhile, another athlete called for greater transparency in team selection.
“Team selection should be explained by the chief coach at a press conference after each selection meeting. This would ensure transparency and help people understand AFI’s thinking,” said an athlete who also wished to remain anonymous.
3. India’s 4x100m relay coaches
After the women’s 4x100m relay silver at Asian Athletics Championships 2025, AFI said it would prioritise the 4x100m relays for the Asian Games. It appointed James Hillier, Athletics director of Reliance, as national coach for the men’s team, and Seenivasan Ramaiah for the women’s team. The probables were announced almost a year in advance, with two preparatory camps: the women at NCOE Trivandrum, the men at Reliance’s Jio Institute in Mumbai.
The women qualified and finished fourth in the Asian Games final in 43.57s. The men’s team had a disastrous season. It was disqualified at the season-opening Open Relays on 28th March 2026, which meant missing qualification for the Asian Relay Championships, and was disqualified again at the World Relays because of a failed baton exchange. It then missed the Asian Games altogether because most of its members were injured while training at the Jio Institute under Hillier.
4. Ronald Weigel
AFI appointed Germany’s Ronald Weigel as India’s racewalking foreign expert in 2025. Almost two seasons later, there are no noticeable results to show for it.
Athletes who had been training independently or with private and government organisations were required to join the camp to train under Weigel. In the end, few trained under him, Priyanka Goswami and Sandeep among them. The results at the World Race Walking Championships were subpar.
1. Marathon Race Walk
Men
Ram Baboo – 17th (3:13:55)
Sandeep Kumar – 20th (3:15:41)
Women
Priyanka Goswami – 10th (3:43:01)
Payal – 28th (3:59:50)
Manju Rani – 31st (4:05:22)
2. Half-Marathon Race Walk
Men
Servin Sebasthiyan – 19th (1:30:28)
Akshdeep Singh – 50th (1:38:19)
Hardeep – 57th (1:42:28)
Sahil – 59th (1:43:11)
Women
Ravina – 39th (1:45:44)
Munita Prajapati – 43rd (1:47:15)
Mansi Negi – 52nd (1:54:12)
India’s racewalkers struggled again at the 2026 Asian Games.
Across the four marathon and half-marathon race walk events, India fielded athletes only in the women’s marathon race walk, with Priyanka Goswami and Manju Rani representing the country.
Priyanka was disqualified after approximately 9km after receiving four red cards — two for loss of contact and two for knee flexion. Manju Rani finished last in 3:40:17, nearly seven minutes slower than her personal best of 3:33:24.
When NNIS Sports approached Weigel for an interview at the venue, he declined, saying he could not speak to the media without AFI’s permission. |
