India’s Mixed Relay Medal Streak Holds Through Nagoya Silver

India’s mixed 4x400m relay team took silver at the Asian Games on September 24, clocking 3:14.46 in Nagoya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 25 named Manu T.S., Poovamma M.R., Vishal T.K. and Vithya Ramraj and called the race a proud moment for Indian athletics. Bahrain won gold in a Games record 3:12.87. Vietnam finished 0.08 seconds behind India.

Vithya Ramraj Passed Vietnam With Metres Left

The final at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium followed the World Athletics mixed 4×400 metres relay order of man, woman, man, woman. Manu Thenkalil Saji went first. Poovamma, 36 and the oldest of the four, took the second leg. Vishal ran third. Vithya, 28, anchored.

Manu handed over in second. By halfway through Poovamma’s lap, India had slipped to sixth. UAE led, Bahrain sat second, and Vietnam was just ahead of India. The podium was sliding away until the last exchange broke open.

UAE had saved 18-year-old Mariam Kareem for the anchor. She reached for the baton from Emanuel Bademele, missed it, hit his hand, and watched it fall. India moved into third with the stick in Vithya’s right hand. Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser was already gone. Vietnam’s Thi Ngoc Nguyen was still in range.

THE ORDER THEY RAN

• First leg: Manu T.S. put India in second at the first change.
• Second leg: Poovamma M.R. could not hold the place and India dropped to sixth.
• Third leg: Vishal T.K., the country’s fastest 400m runner, dragged the team back into a medal fight.
• Anchor: Vithya Ramraj passed Nguyen late and held on for silver.

Vithya is a 400m hurdles runner first, the only Indian woman to have matched P.T. Usha’s national record in that event, and she had watched the whole race from the waiting zone. She said the wait made her feel sick.

There was so much pressure on me. Everyone had done their best. Now I didn’t want to let anyone down. It’s such a horrible feeling.

Vithya Ramraj, mixed 4x400m anchor, Nagoya

She repeated the plan her coach Nehpal Singh had given her: do not panic through the first 100 metres, stay in touch through the next, look up in the third. When she saw him in the stands on the home straight, she went. Nguyen had the line. Vithya still had a few dozen metres. She told herself one more push. It was enough.

Bahrain’s Games Record Left Gold Out of Reach

Bahrain’s winning time, 3:12.87, cut 1.59 seconds off India. That gap was not a dip at the line. Naser’s season’s best of 49.27 sat 2.69 seconds faster than Vithya’s best of 51.96. Gold was a different race. Silver was the 0.08-second hold on Vietnam.

The Athletics Federation of India said the quartet held off Vietnam by 0.08 seconds. Vietnam clocked 3:14.54. Japan was fourth in 3:15.52, China fifth in 3:15.65. South Korea ran 3:19.18 and UAE 3:21.94. The result sat unofficial for a stretch after a UAE protest, then was confirmed with India second.

THE NAGOYA MIXED RELAY FINAL

India had come into the final as the fourth-fastest team from the morning heats. The medal race was 1.77 seconds quicker than that heat. It was still 0.12 seconds slower than the national record of 3:14.34 set in Hangzhou in 2023.

Poovamma Has Now Medaled at Three Asian Games

The mixed relay arrived at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. India has stood on the podium at every edition since. The names on the baton have turned over. Poovamma has not.

In Jakarta she ran the second leg with Muhammed Anas, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv in 3:15.71. Bahrain crossed first. The Athletics Integrity Unit later banned Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya for a failed doping test, and India’s silver was later upgraded to gold. Poovamma already had the women’s 4x400m gold from that meet. She told the Olympic Channel the anthem on the day would have felt different, and that a gold is still a gold.

Hangzhou in 2023 was a new quartet: Muhammed Ajmal, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan in 3:14.34, a national record, silver after Sri Lanka’s disqualification. Bahrain won that one too, in 3:14.02. Vithya is the bridge from that night to Nagoya. Poovamma is the bridge from Jakarta.

INDIA’S MIXED RELAY AT THE ASIAN GAMES

1. August 28, 2018: Anas, Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv clock 3:15.71 in Jakarta; the silver becomes gold after Bahrain’s doping case.
2. October 2, 2023: Ajmal, Vithya, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan run 3:14.34 in Hangzhou and take silver after Sri Lanka is disqualified.
3. September 24, 2026: Manu, Poovamma, Vishal and Vithya run 3:14.46 in Nagoya for a third straight mixed-relay medal, a second straight silver.

The clock has moved on from Jakarta and stalled against Hangzhou. Bahrain has moved the other way. The Indian program still collects the medal. It has not collected the gold on the day since the event was new.

Jay Kumar and Kiran Pahal Ran the Heat

The four who stood on the podium were not the four who booked the lane. Coaches sat Vishal and Vithya out of the morning heat and used the extra legs on the squad.

Who Ran India’s Heat in Nagoya?

Manu T.S., Poovamma Raju Machettira, Jay Kumar and Kiran Pahal clocked 3:16.23 in Heat 2, second in the race and fourth among the eight finalists. India led at 800 metres and at 1,200 metres before China passed them in 3:15.97. Bahrain was the fastest qualifier in 3:15.73. Vietnam ran 3:16.08.

For the final, Vishal came in as the only Indian man under 45 seconds over 400m, a 44.98 national record from the 2026 National Federation Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi. Vithya came in for the anchor. Manu and Poovamma kept their places. Jay Kumar and Kiran Pahal had already done the work that put the team in the race.

Vishal also had mixed-relay gold from the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi. The Nagoya job was narrower: get Vithya close enough that a hurdles specialist could hunt Nguyen, not Naser.

Modi Congratulates the Mixed Relay Quartet

The Prime Minister’s Office on September 25 congratulated the quartet on the silver, citing speed, coordination and determination, and wishing them greater heights.

An exceptional performance by our Mixed 4x400m Relay team!

Congratulations to Manu TS, Poovamma MR, Vishal TK and Vithya Ramraj on winning the Silver medal at the Asian Games. Their speed, coordination and determination made for an exciting race and a proud moment for Indian…

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 25, 2026

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each for Vithya Ramraj and Vishal T.K., the two Tamil Nadu athletes on the team. Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal posted his own note the evening of the race. Manu, speaking after the finish, said the job on the first leg was to hand the baton over in a good place, and he dedicated the medal to his coach.

The political layer arrived on schedule. The track facts did not change with it. India had a silver, a 0.08-second margin, and a Games record it never saw.

The Women’s 4×400 Is Still on the Schedule

Poovamma had been praying before that last change, hands clasped, because she could not know the time from the infield.

I was praying to all the Gods! Christian God, Hindu God, anyone. Whoever is listening. I was praying, God, we have to win a medal!

M.R. Poovamma, second leg, after the Nagoya final

She also said the team had been expecting gold and had expected a hard fight with Bahrain. The next target she named was the women’s 4x400m relay, where she wants the colour of the medal to change. Vithya still has the women’s 400m hurdles and that same women’s relay to run in Nagoya. The month off she joked about on the last straight is not coming.

Eight years after Jakarta, the mixed relay is still India’s most reliable Asian Games 400m bet. The veteran is still on the second leg. The new 400m record holder and the hurdles specialist now close the race. Bahrain still has the woman who runs 49 seconds. Until that gap shrinks, Nagoya is the shape of the medal: silver, close, and one place short of the anthem Poovamma has already heard on a delay.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is India’s mixed 4x400m national record?

The national record is 3:14.34, set by Muhammed Ajmal, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan in the Hangzhou final on October 2, 2023. Ajmal opened in 43.14, Vithya ran 54.19, Rajesh 45.77 and Subha 51.24. The Nagoya silver of 3:14.46 did not break that mark.

Why did India get gold from the 2018 Jakarta mixed relay?

India finished second on the night in 3:15.71 behind Bahrain. The Athletics Integrity Unit later banned Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya after a failed doping test, Bahrain was disqualified, and the Athletics Federation of India confirmed the upgrade. Adille Sumariwalla, then AFI president, said the squad would take two golds and a silver out of Jakarta once the ruling landed.

Is the mixed 4x400m relay an Olympic event?

Yes. World Athletics added mixed-sex 4x400m relays at the 2017 World Relays, recognised a world record at the 2019 World Championships, and the event went on the Olympic programme from Tokyo 2021. World Athletics fixed the championship order as man, woman, man, woman in March 2022. Vithya Ramraj ran the 4x400m relay for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

What running order does World Athletics require?

From March 2022, championship mixed 4x400m races must go man, woman, man, woman. That is why Manu T.S. started in Nagoya, Poovamma ran second, Vishal T.K. ran third and Vithya Ramraj anchored, and why a woman cannot open or a man cannot close at these Games.