Sable's epic triumph and Pooja's flamboyance pen India's stunning success at the Asian meet

Indian athletes had an impressive week at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, winning 24 medals and finishing second in the medal tally, just behind China.

The 5-day-long sporting extravaganza highlighted the growing prowess of Indian athletics, with standout performances from both emerging and established stars.

Indian athletes also set many outstanding records, including two new national records that were rewritten in Gumi by Animesh Kujur in the men's 200m and Parul Chaudhary in the women's 3000m steeplechase events.

Here, TheBridge, is highlighting some of the top Indian performances from the tournament:

Gulveer Singh's double Gold

The rising star and one of the most consistent long-distance runners, Gulveer Singh, continued his strong momentum from a strong start to the season to clinch two gold medals at the Asian Championship.

He won both the 5,000m and 10,00m races and became only the fifth player to achieve this feat in Asia, and also just the second Indian man after G. Lakshmanan's 5000-10000 double from the 2017 edition.

Pooja's surprise High Jump Gold

One of the stories of the tournament for India was the 18-year-old Pooja becoming the Asian champion by edging past the Olympians in the women's high jump final, bettering her personal best by 4 centimeters.

With this, she has rewritten her own National U20 record and became just the second Indian to win a women's high jump gold medal, which had last happened 25 years back at the 2000 Asian meet.

Sachin Yadav- The new Javelin star of India.

Sachin Yadav traveled to South Korea with high hopes following his performances earlier this year. However, competing in his first international tournament proved challenging, as he struggled to surpass 80 meters in his first four throws.

Despite this, he managed to regain his composure and delivered throws over 80 meters in his final two attempts, including a personal best of 85.16 meters. This impressive performance secured him the silver medal, placing him just behind the Olympic champion, Arshad Nadeem.

Yadav has now become only the fourth Indian athlete to exceed the 85-meter mark and is the second to achieve this feat in 2025, following the National Record holder, Neeraj Chopra.

Jyothi Yarraji and Avinash Sable - record-breaking performances

Indian athlete Avinash Sable, who had been having a challenging season, delivered an outstanding performance to secure a gold medal in the men’s steeplechase, bringing home India’s first title in this event in 36 years. He achieved this with his season-best time.

Similarly, Jyothi Yarraji, who had been struggling to break the 13-second barrier this year due to an injury, produced her best performance in Gumi. She not only defended her title in the 100m hurdles but also broke a 27-year-old championship record.

An exceptional performance in relay racing

Indian relay teams have always been the favourites to win medals at the Asian level, but this time there were some doubts because of injury concerns to a lot of star Indian players.

But, the team didn't let him hamper their medal chances and won four medals from the relay events, which included two gold medals in the mixed and women's 4*400m relay events.

The 4*400m relays are always the Indian strength, but this time the women's 4*100m team also showcased their quality to win a silver medal with a season best time of 43.86s.

Other notable performances

Nandini Agasara: Heptathlete Nandini had a brilliant tournament as she clinched the gold medal with a big personal best of 5941 points. She was also on par with the 6000-mark, but missed out after a poor javelin event.

Vishal TK: Vishal, who got the chance to run the 400m despite missing the AFI Criteria, had a brilliant outing as he clocked his first sub-46 time(45.57s) in the final but narrowly missed out on a medal by 0.02 seconds.

Pooja: Middle-distance runner Pooja has also impressed everyone by winning two medals, 800m Bronze and 1500m Silver, with a new personal best timing in the 800m final.