Asian Games 2026: Sawan clinches marathon silver; Tajinderpal settles for second spot; Prachi pulls off a surprise

A day that began with the longest competitive distance in athletics, producing one of the most precious medals for India, ended with questions around selections and accountability of absentee athletes that overshadowed the impressive performances of those who did turn up to do their best.

Saturday morning at the Asian Games here saw Sawan Barwal, a man who started running marathons only a year ago, break not only his own National record by an incredible 21 seconds (2:11:37s) but also win India’s first Games silver in the event in 44 years . He had already shattered one of the longest standing records in Indian athletics, Shivnath Singh’s 1978 timing of 2:12:00 by running 2:11:58 in April. More importantly, this is only the fourth Indian medal in the Asian marathon and the first outside India.