Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has always been an important part of India’s success in athletics world over. India enjoyed their best athletics campaign since the inaugural 1951 Asian Games in 2023 Hangzhou, winning 29 medals – six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze.
Uttar Pradesh athletes Kiran Baliyan, Gulveer Singh, Ajay Kumar Saroj, Seema Punia, Parul Chaudhary and Annu Rani all won medals.
This time too, for the September-October Asian Games in Japan, eight athletes from the state across distance running, jumps, throws, sprints and race walk are in the contingent. They represent some of India’s in-form medal prospects, national record holders and recent global finalists among them.
Distance runners Gulveer and Parul, javelin throwers Rohit Yadav and Annu stand out as the most likely medallists.
Armyman Gulveer has emerged as one of Asia’s dominant male distance runners. He is the reigning Asian champion in 5,000m and 10,000m after a double gold at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, and he holds the national records in 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m.
At the recent Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he took the 10,000m silver and the 5,000m bronze in a tough field, becoming the first Indian to achieve the double at a single CWG edition. With a world top-15 ranking in 10,000m and a sub 13-minute 5,000m to his name, Gulveer is a genuine gold medal contender in both events, and a dark horse in the 1,500m if tactics favour his strong finish.
Parul Chaudhary, from Iklauta village in UP, is India’s most decorated female distance runner at Asian level. At Hangzhou, she created history by winning the 3,000m steeplechase silver and, less than 24 hours later, snatched gold in the 5,000m with a last-lap surge – the first Indian woman to win 5,000m gold at the Asiad and the first to medal in both the events at one Asian Games.
She holds the national records in the steeplechase (9:12.46, set in 2025) and 5,000m (15:04.26, bettered in France in 2026). In Japan, Parul is a top-two finish prospect in 5,000m and steeplechase, and has an outside chance in 1,500m if she is in peak form.
Both Rohit Yadav and Annu Rani bring firepower in the javelin throw. Rohit, from Jaunpur district, has emerged as one of the world’s leading throwers in 2026. At the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar, he unleashed a career-best 87.05m – India’s second-best throw of the season – to win gold and seal his Asian Games spot. That mark puts him in the same conversation as the world’s elite and gives him a genuine shot at an Asian Games podium.
Annu Rani, also from Meerut, is the reigning Asian Games champion, having won gold in Hangzhou with a 62.92m throw after nearly quitting the sport earlier in 2023. She became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games javelin gold, and she has since been a consistent national-level medallist. In Japan, Annu’s experience and big-meet temperament make her a strong medal contender again.
Long jumper Shahnavaz Khan, an 18-year-old from Pratapgarh, has enjoyed a breakthrough 2026 and has a good for a podium finish. He won bronze at the recent World U20 Championships in Eugene with 7.84m, then broke the junior national record twice – 8.23m (Federation Cup) and then 8.30m at the National Inter-States – to qualify for the Asian Games. As India’s third-best male long jumper ever and a global junior medallist, Shahnavaz has the speed and technique to challenge for an Asian Games medal.
Woman long jumper Shaili Singh, from Jhansi, holds the U20 national record (6.76m), her personal best. In 2026, she won gold at the New Taipei City Athletics Open with 6.24m and has a season’s best of 6.58m, achieved at the Federation Cup meet. While the Asian Games field is deep, Shaili will surely be among the top finishers if she jumps close to her personal best.
Neeru Pathak, from Aligarh, is one of India’s most promising 400m runners. After a strong 2025 – she won gold in the 400m and 4×400m mixed relay at the National Open and clocked an individual best of 52.85secs – she has progressed to the senior national team. This year, she took 400m bronze in the U20 Asian Championships and was part of India’s winning women’s 4x100m squad at the Asian Relay Championships.
In Japan, Neeru is likely to feature in the relays, women’s and mixed 4x400m, where India traditionally contest for medals. Her sub-53sec level and relay experience makes her a key leg.
Priyanka, who hails from Muzaffarnagar, has been India’s leading female race walker for some years. The two-time Olympian, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the 10,000m race walk, holds national records in the 20km and 35km events. In 2026, she finished 10th in the marathon race walk at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Brasília (3:43:01) and placed second in the Indian Open marathon race walk clocking 3:37:25.
With the Asian Games now featuring the marathon race walk, the diminutive Priyanka’s endurance and big-race experience make her an outside medal hope.