For many members of India’s 2026 Asian Games contingent, Aichi-Nagoya is their first experience of the continental multi-sport event. But some of the athletes competing in Japan have been part of India’s Asian Games campaigns for more than a decade.
Their previous appearances include medals, fourth-place finishes, missed editions and comebacks. For them, Nagoya is another chapter in an Asian Games journey that began years before the 2026 edition. We take a look at five athletes who already have storied legacies at the Asian Games.
Mirabai Chanu
Mirabai Chanu’s Asian Games journey began at the 2014 Incheon Games. Competing in the women’s 48kg category, she finished ninth.
She missed the 2018 Jakarta edition because of an injury before returning at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. There, competing in the women’s 49kg category, Chanu finished fourth with a total of 191kg.
The result meant that Chanu entered the 2026 Games still without an Asian Games medal, despite winning Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals during her career. Nagoya represents her fourth attempt at the continental event.
Mairaj Ahmad Khan
Mairaj Ahmad Khan’s Asian Games story began even earlier. The skeet shooter first competed in the continental event at Doha 2006, and later at the 2010 Asian Games as well.
He returned for the 2014 Games in Incheon, where he finished fifth in the men’s skeet competition. He subsequently missed out on national selection for the 2018 Jakarta and 2022 Hangzhou editions.
Now 50, Mairaj is back at the Asian Games in Nagoya, making his fourth appearance. His return links India’s current shooting contingent with an Asian Games campaign that began two decades ago.
Anu Raghavan
Anu Raghavan first appeared at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. She finished fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles in 56.92 seconds.
Her position later changed after Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya was disqualified following a doping violation. Raghavan was subsequently moved into the bronze-medal position in the official results.
The 2026 Games, therefore, mark her return to the Asian Games eight years after Jakarta. She did not participate in the 2022 Asian Games, which were held in Hangzhou in 2023.
Rahi Sarnobat
Rahi Sarnobat has already experienced the top of the Asian Games podium. At Jakarta 2018, she won gold in the women’s 25m pistol, becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win an individual gold in the Asian Games shooting.
Her career subsequently took a different turn. In 2022, Sarnobat developed neuropathic pain that left her unable to compete for an extended period. She spent the following years recovering before returning to competitive shooting.
At Nagoya, the 35-year-old is again part of India’s shooting contingent. She is entered in the women’s 25m pistol and the women’s 25m pistol team event.
Harmanpreet Singh
Harmanpreet Singh’s Asian Games story began with India’s men’s hockey team at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. India won bronze at those Games after entering the tournament as the defending champions from the Incheon 2014 Games.
Four years later, Harmanpreet was part of the Indian team that won gold at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. The victory also secured India a direct qualification place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Harmanpreet now returns to the Asian Games as captain of the men’s hockey team. Hockey India lists the 2022 Asian Games gold medal and the 2018 bronze medal among its major tournament achievements.
From Chanu’s first appearance in 2014 to Mairaj’s return nearly two decades after his Asian Games debut, these athletes represent different stages of longevity in Indian sport.
Nagoya is not the beginning of their continental journeys; it is another edition in careers that have already crossed previous Asian Games cycles.