We are expecting more medals from athletics in Asian Games: Radhakrishnan Nair - The Hindu

With the year 2026 a little over two months away, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has trained its focus on preparations for two mega events — the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.India had bagged 29 medals in athletics, including three in 4x400m relays (comprising men's gold and women's and mixed silver), at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The AFI has a target of improving the medals tally from track and field this time.A few months prior to the Hangzhou Asian Games, the country's men's 4x400m relay team had done creditably well. It hit the headlines with its Asian record-breaking performance of 2:59.05 at the 2023 Budapest World championships.However, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Indian men's and women's 4x400m relay teams crashed out in the heats finishing fourth and eighth respectively.The country has lost some pace in longer relays due to athletes' injuries.The male runners are on the path of recovery and there is some hope.However, a few key female sprinters — including Jyothika Sri Dandi, Rupal Chaudhary and Subha Venkatesan — have been sidelined due to injury.