Prachi Choudhary has secured a bronze medal in the women’s 400 metres final at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday. The Indian sprinter clocked 53.21 seconds to give the country its 30th medal. Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser dominated the race to take gold in a new Games record of 49.20 seconds, while Iran’s Zahra Zarei Manoujan claimed silver with a time of 52.38 seconds.
Meanwhile, fellow Indian Kiran Pahal finished fifth in 53.41 seconds. The result marks Prachi’s first individual medal at continental level and India’s first podium finish in the women’s 400m at the Asian Games since Hima Das’s silver in 2018. It lifts India’s athletics medal count at the Aichi-Nagoya Games to eight and the overall national tally to 30 with four gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.
Who is Prachi Choudhary? Indian sprinter claims bronze in women’s 400m at Asian Games 2026
The 29-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, who had previously won relay medals, produced a strong final-stretch effort to hold off higher-ranked rivals and secure the podium place. She was born in Saharanpur, UP, and was also part of the women's 4x400m relay team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Prachi has also bagged a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. She also won silver at the Asian Championships in Doha in 2019. The bronze medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan now gives her another significant medal in the list of her growing international achievements.
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