Seema Kumari ends India’s 16-year wait with Asian Games 10,000m bronze

Nagoya: India’s ace athlete Seema Kumari ended a 16-year wait for a medal in the women’s 10,000m at the Asian Games after securing bronze in the final at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Thursday. Seema clocked 32:50.05 to finish third behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who won gold in 32:39.18, and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, who claimed silver in 32:41.54.

Her bronze also made Seema only the third Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the 10,000m. Preeja Sreedharan won gold in 2010, while Kavita Raut claimed silver at the same edition.

Born on January 10, 2001, in Himachal Pradesh, Seema has established herself as one of India’s leading distance runners, with the 5,000m and 10,000m as her main events.

She arrived in Nagoya on the back of strong performances in 2026. In March, she clocked a personal best of 32:02.43 in the 10,000m at The TEN in California, finishing fifth in a competitive international field. She then improved her 5,000m personal best to 15:16.20 in April.

Seema’s recent achievements include a silver medal in the 5,000m at the 2025 FISU World University Games, gold in the senior women’s race at the 2024 Asian Cross Country Championships in Hong Kong and gold in the 10,000m at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in 2026.

India won the silver medal in the mixed 4x400m relay event on Thursday.

The Indian team, consisting of Vishal TK, Vithya Ramraj, Manu Saji and MR Poovamma, recorded a timing of 3:14.46s, to finish behind Bahrain, which won gold with a Games Record.

It wasn’t the greatest of starts for the Indian quartet, with the team languishing at sixth midway through the second leg run by Poovamma after a lacklustre first lap from Manu.

Earlier, India’s Animesh Kujur and national record holder Gurindervir Singh advanced to the men’s 100m semi-finals. Kujur finished third in Heat 1 in 10.36 seconds, while Gurindervir was second in Heat 4 in 10.38 seconds. The top three from each heat qualified automatically, with both Indians securing their places comfortably. The men’s 100m semi-finals are scheduled for Friday. Agencies

Also Read: ASUFII edge past CISF on penalties to reach OIL Gold Cup quarterfinals