India won five gold medals in athletics on the third day of the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya as its overall tally climbed to 62. The country’s 18 podium finishes across disciplines lifted it to fifth in the standings, with athletics continuing to drive its medal charge.
Sprinter , high-jumper Praveen Kumar and shot-putter Sachin Khilari stood out, setting Games records in their respective events. Dilip Gavit and Ayush Verma were the other Indian athletes to win gold medals on the day.
At the end of the day, India’s tally stood at 14 gold, 22 silver and 26 bronze medals. Of these, athletics contributed 42 medals, comprising 13 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze. Indian athletes are competing in 60 of the 62 disciplines.
Simran completes sprint double; Gavit leads Indian one-two
Simran claimed the women’s 100m T12 gold, setting a Games record of 12.02 seconds. She had earlier won the 200m T12 title. The visually impaired sprinter finished ahead of Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh, who clocked 12.30 seconds, while Indonesia’s Made Ni Putri took bronze in 12.51 seconds.
Gavit won the men’s 100m T47 gold in 10.69 seconds, leading an Indian one-two finish. Mohammed Morssinganakath Basil secured silver in 10.72 seconds, setting a Games record.
Praveen Kumar won the men’s high jump T44/64 gold with a Games-record performance. Sachin Khilari topped the men’s shot put F46, while Ayush Verma secured gold in the men’s shot put F53.
India also collected four silver medals in athletics through Banti in the men’s high jump T44/64, Bhagyashri Jadhav in the women’s shot put F34, Mohd Yasser in the men’s shot put F46 and Manjeet in the men’s javelin F12/13.
Anubhav Choudhary (men’s 100m T35), Parveen (men’s shot put F46) and Rakeshbhai Bhatt (men’s 100m T37) added bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Preethi Pal won her second silver at the Games. Following her silver in the 200m T35 on Tuesday, she won silver in the women’s 100m T35. The double bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics was among three Indian athletes to have won two medals at the Games so far.
Para-archers, para-shuttlers make podium finishes
In para-archery, Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag won silver in the women’s doubles after losing to China in the final.
In swimming, visually impaired swimmer Ravi Kartik Budigina claimed his second silver, finishing runner-up in the men’s 100m backstroke S13 in 1:10.10. Himanshu Nandal also secured his second medal, winning bronze in the men’s 100m breaststroke S11 in 1:20.72.
Powerlifter Kasthuri Rajamani claimed silver in the women’s 67kg category, marking the biggest achievement of her career.
India also secured further podium finishes in badminton. Defending champion Suhas L Y, Naveen Sivakumar and Abhijeet Sakhuja reached the men’s singles SL4 semifinals, guaranteeing India at least three medals in the category. The SL4 classification covers athletes with moderate lower-limb impairments.
Krishna Nagar and Sivarajan Solaimalai added silver in the men’s doubles SH6 category, where medals were decided by the final group standings among four pairs.
With competition moving into its fourth day on Thursday, India will hope to win more medals across disciplines. India is aiming to surpass its best-ever performance of 111 medals, achieved at the 2023 Asian Para Games.