Women lead India’s top stories from the Nagoya asian games.
An Indian woman broke all barriers at the 2026 Asian Games.
A movement that began when Kamaljeet Sandhu became India’s first woman athlete to win a gold medal in athletics in 1970 with a time of 57.3 reached a new high at the recently concluded Nagoya Asian Games. In every sport, women achieved a first.
Neeru Dhanda won the first-ever trap shooting gold claimed by a woman; Brianca Elangovan became the first Indian to win a pole vault medal with a bronze; and Kumkum Mahod, a 17-year-old, won the first recurve archery gold.
The first Indian to run the 400 m hurdles in under 55 seconds was Vithya Ramraj, breaking the NR of PT Usha, her mark of 55.42 set in 1984.
The women’s hockey team won an asian games gold after 44 years, beating the tough Chinese team in a tense final. Pranavi Urs gave India its first gold in golf, and women boxer Lovlina Borgohain led the gold medal rush in boxing, one they had started in the slightly easier Glasgow Commonwealth Games, but showing their mettle at the tougher competition here at the asian games.
To me, this was India’s biggest step forward in Indian sports.
Here’s to more and more women’s participation in sports.
