Seema Kumari wins bronze, India's 1st medal in women's 10,000m after 16 years in Asian Games

India's Seema Kumari scripted history as she won a bronze medal in the women's 10,000m race in Asian Games 2026 on September 24. Seema clocked 32:50.05 to bag bronze, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan's Daisy Jepkemei who delivered her season best 33:03.21. 

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi clinched the gold medal clocking 32:39.18. Hosts Japan's Nozomi Tanaka secured a silver medal by finishing the race in 32:41.54.

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Seema maintained good pace and stayed among the leaders for most of the race. She was fourth in the pack of five with 2,000m to go. But, with few laps to go, Seema picked up pace and maintained good lead over Daisy. But, Winfred and Nozomi's burst towards the end helped them finish ahead of Seema.

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This is India's first medal in women's 10,000m event in Asian Games since 2010. In the Guangzhou edition, Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut scripted history with a gold and silver medal respectively.