The 2025 Asian Athletics Championships kick off on Tuesday, May 27, in Gumi, South Korea. Over four action-packed days, India aims to demonstrate its rising strength and remarkable progress on the continental track and field stage.
Here are 5 Indian athletes to watch out for in the Republic of Korea:
1) ANIMESH KUJUR (200M AND 4×100M RELAY): Mr. Consistent and India’s fastest man in the 200m, Animesh Kujur, is set to chase a podium finish in his first major international competition. Animesh has shown remarkable consistency since last year. In 2024, he came close to breaking the national record, and this year he finally did it.
At the Federation Cup, Animesh stunned the Indian athletics fans by clocking an impressive 20.40 seconds in the 200m final, smashing Amlan Borgohain’s national record of 20.52 seconds. He currently ranks third on the Asian leaderboard for 2025, trailing only Japan’s Towa Uzawa (20.13s) and Kazakhstan’s Abdulaziz Atafi (20.14s).
Following this, Animesh delivered another strong performance at the UAE Grand Prix, finishing the race in 20.45 seconds. He also played a key role in the Indian men’s 4×100m relay team that broke a 15-year-old national record at the National Open Relay Competition, clocking 38.69 seconds.
Historically, Dharambir Singh remains the only Indian to have won a medal in the men’s 200m at the Asian Championships, securing bronze with a time of 20.66 seconds in 2015. Can Animesh Kujur rewrite history this time in South Korea?
2) SACHIN YADAV (MEN’S JAVELIN THROW): After Neeraj Chopra, the consistently outstanding javelin thrower at the national level is Sachin Yadav.
Sachin first grabbed headlines last year at the All India Police Athletics Championships, where he unleashed a massive 84.21m throw. He even surpassed the 2025 World Championships qualification mark on his final attempt, but unfortunately, it was ruled a foul. To add to the disappointment, the event wasn’t recognized by World Athletics, so his mark didn’t count officially.
Earlier this year, Sachin Yadav once again made waves at the National Games in Uttarakhand, clinching the gold medal with an impressive throw of 84.39m.
Now, in his debut international tournament, Sachin will face some of the world’s best, including Arshad Nadeem, the Paris Olympics gold medallist. As India’s second-best javelin thrower, and with Neeraj Chopra absent, the 25-year-old Yadav carries the hopes of the nation on his shoulders.
He will compete against strong contenders from Sri Lanka – Sumedha Ranasinghe and Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage – both of whom have recently crossed the 85m mark, with personal bests of 85.78m and 85.41m respectively.
With his talent and determination, Sachin Yadav has every potential to secure a podium finish at the Asian Championships.
3) JYOTHI YARRAJI (WOMEN’S 100M HURDLES): The Indian hurdles queen is all set to defend her crown at the upcoming Asian Championships. She clinched the gold in the 100m hurdles with a timing of 13.09 seconds at the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok, where she also secured a silver in the women’s 200m sprint.
With a personal best of 12.78 seconds, Yarraji is yet to break the 13-second barrier this season. Her season’s best in 2025 stands at 13.10 seconds, recorded at the National Games in Uttarakhand. She also enjoyed an impressive indoor season earlier this year.
However, defending her title in Gumi will be a tough challenge, especially with China’s Lin Yuwei in the field. Yuwei edged past Yarraji to win the 100m hurdles gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, clocking a personal best of 12.74 seconds, while Yarraji finished at 12.91 seconds.
Yarraji acknowledged that the presence of China’s 2023 Asian Games champion will make her title defence even more demanding. Alongside Yuwei, Japan’s Yumi Tanaka – currently the Asian leader with a time of 12.81 seconds – will also be competing in South Korea, adding to the fierce competition.
4) PARUL CHAUDHARY (WOMEN’S 3000M STEEPLECHASE & 5000M): Parul Chaudhary will aim to defend her crown in South Korea, riding high on a record-breaking start to her 2025 season. Just days ago, she shattered her own national record with a stunning 9:13.39 run in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the Doha Diamond League in Qatar, finishing sixth in an elite field.
Remarkably, Parul outpaced Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai – the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist – who finished just behind her.
The previous Indian record of 9:15.31 also belonged to Parul, set during the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Her latest performance not only rewrote the national books but also comfortably breached the 9:18.00 qualifying mark for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, scheduled for September in Tokyo.
At the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Parul had clinched the gold in the women’s 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:38.76, and added a silver in the 5000m with 15:52.35 – underlining her credentials as one of Asia’s premier distance runners.
5) PRAVEEN CHITHRAVEL (MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP): Asian leader of 2025 and national record holder, Praveen Chithravel, aims to deliver another stellar performance at the Asian Athletics Championships.
Praveen kicked off his 2025 season at the National Games in Uttarakhand, where despite a below-par performance, he clinched the gold with a best jump of 16.50m. He then raised the bar at the Indian Open Jumps Competition, securing a silver medal with a leap of 17.13m-his second 17m-plus jump in two years.
The defining moment came at the Federation Cup, where Praveen not only won gold but also equaled his national record with an impressive 17.37m jump. This performance also earned him qualification for the World Championships.
So far this season, only four men in Asia have crossed the 17.00m mark in triple jump, and all four are competing at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea: Praveen Chithravel (17.37m), Zhu Yaming (China, 17.33m), Abdulla Aboobacker (India, 17.19m), and Wen Su (China, 17.09m). Notably, Zhu Yaming was the Olympic silver medallist in 2021.
With this elite field, Praveen stands as the strongest contender to win a medal at the Asian Athletics Championships.