India will host the Asian Relay Championships 2027 in Chandigarh, the first time the event comes to India. The Asian Athletics Association also gave India the Asian Indoor Championships 2028 in Bhubaneswar. Both decisions were made at its executive council meeting in Hong Kong on 27 May 2026.

Together with the 2028 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which Bhubaneswar will also stage, India now has three international championships in under two years. This guide covers what we know about each event, India’s relay record at past editions and why home relays matter for Indian sprinters.

Asian Relay Championships 2027 in Chandigarh

Chandigarh will stage the third edition of the Asian Relays at the Sector 7 Sports Complex. AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo has said the championships will take place in May 2027. Moreover, World Athletics vice-president Adille Sumariwalla, who attended the meeting in Hong Kong, called it “a very proud moment for the country”.

India at past Asian Relay Championships

The Asian Relays are a young event. However, India has won medals at both editions so far.

2024, Bangkok: one gold and two silvers

The first edition took place in Bangkok on 20 and 21 May 2024, with 16 Asian countries taking part. India won the mixed 4x400m in a then national record of 3:14.1, and both the men’s and women’s 4x400m teams took silver.

2026, China: gold in the women’s 4x100m

The second edition was held in Shaoxing, China, in June 2026. This time, India’s women won the 4x100m in a season’s best of 43.85. In addition, the mixed 4x400m team took silver, and the mixed 4x100m team won bronze in 41.47, close to the national record of 41.35 set at the World Relays.

Why the Asian Relay Championships 2027 matter for India

Relays have become one of India’s strengths. For example, the mixed 4x100m team lowered the national record to 41.35 at the World Relays and then ran 41.06 at the Asian Games, where it won bronze. Meanwhile, sprinters such as Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur have given India its fastest 100m times ever.

However, the men’s 4x100m has struggled, as we explained in our report on the men’s relay crisis. A home championship gives Indian squads a top-level race without long travel. In addition, it falls a few months before the World Championships in Beijing in September 2027, so it is ideal timing to sharpen baton work. For how teams qualify, see our guide to World Championships 2027 qualification.

Asian Indoor Championships 2028 in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar will host the Asian Indoor Championships in early 2028, in the indoor facility of the Kalinga Stadium complex. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the decision. Notably, it will be the first time India hosts the event.

The venue already has a record-breaking history. At the National Indoor Championships there in March 2026, Gurindervir Singh ran 6.60 to set the 60m national record. In addition, Baranica Elangovan cleared 4.22m for a women’s pole vault record, and Kuldeep Kumar set a men’s pole vault record of 5.41m.

World Athletics Indoor Championships 2028 also in Bhubaneswar

Earlier, on 19 March 2026, the World Athletics Council meeting in Toruń, Poland, awarded the 2028 World Athletics Indoor Championships to Bhubaneswar. The championships will be held at the Kalinga Indoor Stadium in March 2028. As a result, Bhubaneswar will host the Asian and the world indoor championships in the same season.

India’s athletics hosting calendar

These events are part of a wider push to bring major athletics to India. The table lists the confirmed events and India’s stated ambitions.

Who is Vithya Ramraj? She is the 28-year-old 400m hurdler from Coimbatore who broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record at the Asian Games 2026. Vithya Ramraj ran 54.75 seconds in Nagoya to win bronze, and at the same Games she won women’s 4x400m relay gold and mixed 4x400m relay silver.

Yet she grew up as a truck driver’s daughter, and her twin sister once paid for her training. This page therefore tells her whole story so far: her medals, her personal bests, her 2026 season race by race, and her life away from the track.

Who is Vithya Ramraj? The short answer

Vithya Ramraj is an Indian 400m hurdler and quarter-miler from Tamil Nadu. She was born in Coimbatore on 20 September 1998, according to World Athletics, and she races the 400m hurdles, the 400m and both 4x400m relays.

She first matched PT Usha’s national record of 55.42 at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where she also won bronze. Then, three years later in Nagoya, she finally broke it. As a result, World Athletics now lists her with one Asian Games gold, three silvers and two bronzes.

Asian Games 2026: 400m hurdles bronze and a 42-year-old record

The heats took place on Sunday 27 September, and the final followed on Monday 28 September at Nagoya’s Mizuho Park stadium. In the final, Vithya ran 54.75 seconds to win bronze. That cut 0.67 seconds off the 55.42 that Usha set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The UAE’s 18-year-old Mariam Kareem won gold in a Games record of 54.31, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver in a personal best of 54.58. Meanwhile, India’s Anu Raghavan also ran a personal best of 55.88 to finish fifth, Outlook reported.

The bronze was also her second Asian Games medal in a row in the event, after Hangzhou. In addition, Usha herself, now the president of the Indian Olympic Association, was at the Games to see her record fall. Full results from Nagoya are on our Asian Games 2026 hub.

Relay gold and silver: a medal of every colour

Her Games began with the mixed 4x400m relay final on 24 September. India brought Vithya and Vishal T.K. into the team for the final, alongside Manu T.S. and M.R. Poovamma. Then her strong last leg moved India into second, and the team won silver in 3:14.46 behind Bahrain’s Games record of 3:12.87.

Five days later, she anchored the women’s 4x400m relay with Kiran Pahal, M.R. Poovamma and Prachi. On the last lap she passed China and held off Bahrain, so India won gold in 3:29.69. It was India’s first athletics gold of the Games.

Vithya Ramraj’s 2026 season, race by race

Her year started over the flat 400m in March. After that, she doubled up at the Federation Cup in May, won the national hurdles title in June and ran a 400m best of 51.96 in August. Finally, she peaked for Nagoya in September.

Her Ranchi double was one of the stories of the Federation Cup. However, neither time met the Commonwealth Games standards of 51.36 in the 400m and 54.67 in the 400m hurdles. Every Federation Cup result is on our Federation Cup 2026 page.

Download PDF: Federation Cup 2026 women’s 400m final

Who is Vithya Ramraj at her best? Personal bests

Both of her individual bests came in 2026. The marks below are from her World Athletics profile and our race reports.

Her 54.75 made her the first Indian woman to run faster than 55.42 in the 400m hurdles. Meanwhile, her 51.96 improved on the 52.22 she ran at the Federation Cup only three months earlier. The latest Indian marks are on our women’s 400m hurdles page.

Who is Vithya Ramraj’s coach? From Coimbatore to Chennai

Vithya grew up in Coimbatore with her twin sister Nithya and an elder sister. Her father, Ramraj, worked as a truck driver, and money was tight, so the twins went to a government-aided school. They began by winning district-level races, and their results later earned them government jobs, DT Next reported.

Later, she moved to Chennai to train under coach Nehpal Singh Rathore outside the national camp. During that time, Nithya used her Income Tax Department salary to help pay for Vithya’s training, until Vithya found a job with Indian Railways.

Her breakthrough came in 2023. She ran 55.43 at the Indian Grand Prix in Chandigarh, just 0.01 outside Usha’s record. Then, at Hangzhou, she equalled the 55.42 in the heats and won bronze in the final. After that, she ran in India’s women’s 4x400m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and in 2025 she took 400m hurdles bronze in 56.46 at the Asian Championships in Gumi.

Who is Vithya Ramraj beyond the track? Railways, her twin and her father

Off the track, Vithya works for Indian Railways, and she has raced in Railways colours at domestic meets. Her identical twin, Nithya, is a 100m hurdler with a best of 13.04. However, Nithya broke her ankle at a meet in Bhubaneswar in 2025 and missed Nagoya after another injury in training.

The family story also runs through her success. Vithya has said one of her proudest moments was asking her father to stop driving trucks. After Nagoya, her father said the medals were the reward for three years of steady training.

Follow Vithya Ramraj on Athletics India

Her full stats and results are on Vithya Ramraj’s athlete profile. In addition, all women’s hurdles news is in our women’s hurdles section.

India’s Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan finished seventh in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, clocking 49.95 seconds.

The 28-year-old had earned his place in the final after finishing second in his heat in 49.61 seconds, securing automatic qualification.

However, Santhosh could not reproduce his qualifying performance in the final. He battled through the one-lap hurdles race to finish seventh in a strong field.

Bassem Hemeida Wins Gold in 400m Hurdles

Qatar’s Bassem Hemeida won the gold medal in 47.82 seconds.

Japan’s Taiju Goto claimed silver in 47.93 seconds, while Lin Chung-wei of Chinese Taipei completed the podium with bronze in 48.74 seconds.

Men’s 400m Hurdles Final Results

Santhosh Kumar’s Journey to the Asian Games Final

Santhosh’s journey to the final has been built on consistency across individual and relay events.

Born in Sukkudi, Tamil Nadu, he has represented the Indian Army and its elite sports wing. Over the years, he has developed into one of India’s established 400m hurdlers.

He first made his mark at the Asian level at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, finishing fifth in the 400m hurdles in 49.66 seconds.

In 2023, he reached the senior continental podium by winning bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok. He clocked 49.09 seconds in that race.

Contributions to India’s Relay Programme

Santhosh has also played an important role in India’s relay programme.

He represented India in the men’s 4x400m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

In addition, he was part of the Indian team that won gold in the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2026 Asian Athletics Championships.

His experience across both individual and relay events has made him a valuable member of India’s quarter-mile squad.

Personal Best and 2026 Season

The 2026 season has been an important one for Santhosh.

In May, he produced a personal best of 49.06 seconds in the 400m hurdles, highlighting his continued progress.

He also holds a personal best of 46.02 seconds in the individual 400m, demonstrating his ability across both events.

Earlier this year, Santhosh finished joint first at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar with 49.14 seconds. The performance met the Asian Games qualification mark.

Seventh Place Ends Santhosh’s Individual Campaign

In Nagoya, the final was dominated by athletes who broke into the 47- and 48-second range.

Santhosh’s 49.95 seconds earned him seventh place, bringing his individual campaign to a close without a podium finish.

For an athlete who has progressed from junior international competition to the Asian and Olympic stages, the final adds another major international experience to his career.

Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan finishes seventh in the Asian Games 400m hurdles final, clocking 49.95 seconds.

Indian athletics created history at the Commonwealth Games 2026 as Yashas Palaksha and T. Santhosh both qualified for the men’s 400m hurdles final, marking the first time that two Indian athletes have reached the event final at the Commonwealth Games.

Both hurdlers produced composed performances in the semifinals to secure their places in the medal race. T. Santhosh clocked 49.51s, while Yashas Palaksha followed closely with 49.65s, ensuring India will have two representatives in one of the Games’ most competitive track events.

Although neither athlete matched the personal bests they set in their previous competition, both did enough to progress comfortably to the championship final. Yashas enters the final with a lifetime best of 49.00s, the second-fastest performance in Indian history, while Santhosh owns a personal best of 49.06s, making him India’s third-fastest 400m hurdler of all time.

The qualification of both athletes reflects the rapid rise of Indian men’s 400m hurdles in recent years. Their breakthrough performances this season have elevated them into the country’s all-time rankings, and they have now translated that form onto one of the biggest stages in international athletics.

The achievement is particularly significant as this is the first time in Commonwealth Games history that India will have two athletes competing in the men’s 400m hurdles final. It highlights the growing depth in the event and underlines the progress made by Indian quarter-milers and hurdlers on the international circuit.

With their places in the final secured, both Yashas and Santhosh will now shift their focus to the medal race. Armed with lifetime bests below 49.10 seconds and the confidence of reaching a historic final together, the Indian duo will be aiming to produce their best performances when they return to the track.

The historic qualification adds another memorable chapter to India’s athletics campaign in Glasgow and provides fresh optimism ahead of the men’s 400m hurdles final.

Indian hurdler Tejas Ashok Shirse booked his place in the men’s 110m hurdles final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, finishing third in Heat 1 with a time of 13.76 seconds.

Shirse came into the competition as one of the favourites in his heat, having entered the Games with a season’s best and personal best of 13.27 seconds, the fastest mark among all eight athletes in his race.

Drawn in Lane 7, the Indian lined up against a competitive field featuring Jeremie Lararaudeuse of Mauritius (SB 13.43/PB 13.31), Jerome Campbell of Jamaica (SB 13.33/PB 13.23), Samuel Bennett of England (SB/PB 13.41), Roshan Dhammika Ranatunge of Sri Lanka (13.73), Khalilan Vitalis of Saint Lucia (13.59), Robert Oa of Papua New Guinea (14.40) and Errol Bernard Qaqa of Fiji (PB 14.79).

Under the qualification rules, the top three finishers from each of the two heats earned automatic qualification for the final, with the next two fastest athletes overall also advancing on time. Shirse ensured there was no need to rely on the time qualifiers, securing one of the three automatic qualifying spots by finishing third.

Although well outside his season’s best of 13.27 seconds, the primary objective was qualification, and the Indian hurdler successfully progressed to the medal race.

Shirse will now look to improve on his semifinal performance and challenge for a podium finish when the Commonwealth Games men’s 110m hurdles final takes place later in Glasgow.

For more visit Commonwealth Games 2026

India will field an exciting duo in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games 2026, with Yashas Palaksha and T. Santhosh carrying the nation’s hopes in one of the most competitive track events in Glasgow.

Both athletes have enjoyed breakthrough seasons in 2026, producing career-best performances that have elevated them into the upper ranks of Commonwealth contenders. Yashas Palaksha has clocked a lifetime best of 49.00s, while T. Santhosh has followed closely with 49.06s. These performances rank as India’s second-fastest and third-fastest men’s 400m hurdles times of all time, underlining the rapid progress made by the pair.

Among athletes selected for the Commonwealth Games, Yashas is ranked 10th this season, while Santhosh occupies 12th position. The season rankings are headed by Assinie Wilson of Jamaica with 48.29s, followed by Kemorena Tisang of Botswana at 48.32s, Dennick Luke of Great Britain with 48.37s, and Australia’s Jake Minshull, who has recorded 48.53s. Great Britain’s Seamus Derbyshire (48.71s) and Kenya’s Kipkorir Rotich (48.99s) are also among the leading contenders heading into the Games.

Although the competition promises to be fierce, India’s representatives have shown consistent improvement throughout the season. Their ability to break the 49.10-second barrier reflects the growing standard of Indian men’s 400m hurdles and provides optimism ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The inclusion of only athletes who have been officially selected by their respective countries offers a realistic picture of the field that will compete in Glasgow. Within that group, both Yashas and Santhosh have established themselves as capable finalists with the potential to challenge the leading athletes.

As they prepare for the biggest competition of their season, Yashas Palaksha and T. Santhosh will look to build on their breakthrough campaigns and translate their career-best performances into success on the Commonwealth stage.

India’s Shravani Sangle continued her impressive run at the inaugural Asian U23 Athletics Championships 2026, winning the bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles in Ordos, China with a lifetime best of 58.09s.

The 20-year-old produced an excellent race to finish third, lowering her personal best in the process and adding another medal to India’s growing tally at the continental championships. Competing against a strong field of Asia’s leading U23 hurdlers, Shravani maintained her rhythm throughout the race before finishing strongly to secure a well-deserved place on the podium.

The bronze medal capped a memorable campaign for the young Indian athlete, who had already played a pivotal role in India’s triumph in the Mixed 4x400m Relay earlier in the championships. Running the anchor leg, Shravani delivered a sensational performance, overtaking the Chinese runner in the closing stages to seal the gold medal for India in dramatic fashion.

With her latest success in the individual event, Shravani concludes the championships with an impressive two-medal haul—a gold medal in the Mixed 4x400m Relay and a bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Her lifetime-best performance of 58.09s also highlights the steady progress she has made this season. Producing a personal best in a championship final reflects both her composure under pressure and her continued development as one of India’s promising young quarter-milers and hurdlers.

The Asian U23 Athletics Championships have provided an ideal platform for emerging athletes to showcase their talent, and Shravani made full use of the opportunity with outstanding performances in both relay and individual competition.

Ending the championships with two medals and a new personal best, Shravani Sangle has firmly established herself as one of India’s standout performers in Ordos. Her performances not only contributed significantly to India’s medal tally but also underline her potential as she looks ahead to future senior international competitions.