Sawan Barwal Scripts History With Marathon Silver At Asian Games

Last Updated:September 26, 2026, 07:45 IST

Sawan Barwal wins silver in the men’s marathon at the 2026 Asian Games, bagging India’s first medal in the event since the 1982 Delhi Games.

Sawan Barwal wins silver in men’s marathon (Picture credit: X)

India’s Sawan Barwal won a historic silver medal in the men’s marathon at the Asian Games on Saturday, September 26, clocking a personal-best time to bag the nation’s first podium finish in the event in 44 years.

India last won a marathon medal at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.

Barwal clocked 2:11:37 to finish 48 seconds behind Japan’s gold medallist Ichitaka Yamashita, who won the race in 2:10:49. China’s Peiyou Feng claimed the bronze medal with a time of 2:12:13.

In April this year, Barwal broke Shivnath Singh’s 48-year-old national record at the NN Marathon, Rotterdam.

“The way I trained, the target was to finish with a medal, not to beat my national record. But it was also a national record. I am very happy to have won a medal for the country, that too after a long time (1982),” Barwal said while speaking to PTI.

Running under a mild temperature of 21 degrees Celsius with a bit of wind and drizzle in between, Barwal was leading the pack for a while.

At the halfway mark, he had moved up to second place with a time of 1:05:54. After the 35km mark, just the top three runners, including Barwal, were in the front.

“My target was to finish in the first group up to 39-40 km. So, I was in the first group and decided to finish in the last 1-2 km. I tried to stay with the group. In the last 38-37 km, there were just three runners,” Barwal said.

“Around 37 km, the third one (runner) fell behind. I tried to maintain the same pace. So, in the last 39-37 km, the Japanese were ahead. But the pace was fast, so I tried to keep up with my comfortable pace,” Barwal added.

Hailing from Joginder Nagar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, his father Kuldeep worked as a driver in New Delhi while mother Subhadra Devi is a homemaker.

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What medal did Sawan Barwal win at the Asian Games?

Sawan Barwal won a historic silver medal in the men’s marathon at the Asian Games, clocking a personal-best time of 2:11:37 to secure India’s first podium finish in the event in 44 years.

When was India’s last marathon medal at the Asian Games before Sawan Barwal?

Prior to Sawan Barwal’s podium finish, India last won a marathon medal at the Asian Games held in Delhi in 1982.

Who won the gold medal in the Asian Games men’s marathon alongside Sawan Barwal?

Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita won the gold medal in the men’s marathon with a time of 2:10:49, finishing 48 seconds ahead of Sawan Barwal.

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