Top Indian athletes at Asian Games 2026

As the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya reach their conclusion, India have made a great comeback after a poor start to their campaign.

India’s archers, trap shooters, and boxers, and a few have contributed majorly towards the end, bagging multiple medals to improve India’s medals tally and ranking. At such a big stage, all athletes try to give their best, but a few stand out and produce world-class performance in the clutch moments.

Here, we look at some Indian athletes who have bagged medals and brought great pride to the nation.

Chikhita Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav | 2 Golds in Compound Archery

Compound archery has been a great contributor to India’s cause, with the country’s archers usually being some of the most dominant in the world.

The compound archery duo Chikhita Taniparthi and Sahil Jadhav showed incredible form to bag two Golds in the two team events they participated in. Taniparthi competed in the women’s team event and brought home the Gold alongside Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prateika Pradeep. She also won a Gold in the Mixed Team event alongside Sahil Jadhav, who also won the Gold in the men’s team event alongside Kushal Dalal and Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru.

Both archers missed out on individual medals, but by winning the mixed team Gold in a thrilling shootout against the mighty South Koreans, they also ensured qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics.

Gulveer Singh | 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze in Athletics

After his heroics at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, Gulveer Singh arrived at the Asian Games with massive expectations and that too in a very tough field in the men’s 1,500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m events. 

Singh ran superbly to bag three medals in all individual events and was one of our superstars from the athletics contingent alongside Vithya Ramraj. He won two Silver medals in the 1,500m and the 10,000m events, as well as a Bronze medal in the 5,000m.

The army man is a specialist distance runner and was another athlete who was expected to bring the medals, and he didn’t disappoint, though he was a tad upset that he couldn’t bring home a Gold, which is the mark of an elite athlete.

Vithya Ramraj | 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze in Athletics

Vithya Ramraj was one of our standout performers from the track and field category. She participated in three events and grabbed a medal in each of them, making crucial contributions particularly in the relay events.

Ramraj helped the 4 x 400m mixed team to clinch a Silver medal alongside Machettira Poovamma, Vishal Thennarasu, and Thekkinanil Manu. She was also part of the 4 x 400m women’s team that won the Gold alongside Prachi Choudhary, Kiran Pahal, and Poovamma. What was common in both these medal triumphs was that she ran the crucial anchor leg in both events. She also won an individual Bronze in the 400m hurdles, breaking PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record of 55.42s, finishing the race in 54.75s.

Ramraj was one of our brightest medal prospects going into the 2026 Asian Games, and she performed superbly to secure a podium finish in all three events, also helping India win its solitary Gold medal in the track and field category this time around.

Kumkum Anil Mohod | 2 Golds and 1 Silver in Archery

Kumkum Mohod is proving to be an excellent young talent for India. The 17-year-old, making her debut at the Asian Games, had an incredible campaign and clinched two Golds and a Silver.

Mohod won three historic medals in recurve archery, a discipline that has been dominated by the Koreans for a long time. She won a Gold in the women’s team event alongside Ankita Bhagat and Kirti Sharma, a Silver in the mixed team event alongside Dhiraj Bommadevara, and an incredible individual Gold by defeating world No. 1 Oh Ye-jin in a thrilling shoot-off in the final. She became the first Indian woman to win a Gold medal in this category and also secured direct qualification to the 2028 LA Olympics.

If she continues to perform consistently and doesn’t let the pressure of the event get to her, Mohod could bring India a historic recurve archery medal in two years’ time.

Neeru Dhanda | 2 Golds and 1 Silver in Shooting 

Trap shooter Neeru Dhanda arrived at the Asian Games two days later than the rest of the shooting contingent, having been hospitalised with illness and missed the preparation camp as well.

However, that didn’t deter her one bit, as she shot her way to three medals: an individual Gold by setting a Games record with a score of 28/30, a women’s team Silver alongside Ashima Ahalawat and Manisha Keer, and a mixed team Gold alongside Kynan Chenai.

These were India’s first medals in trap shooting, a discipline in which they haven’t done well in the past, thus making Dhanda’s achievement even more. She defied all setbacks and turned up to win three Asiad medals, ending the campaign proudly as the flag-bearer for India on the closing day.