India has won the most Asian Games medals in athletics - 254. The tally includes 79 gold, 88 silver, and 87 bronze medals.
Indian wrestlers and shooters are the next best performers, having won 59 and 58 medals, respectively.
Japan has won 586 medals in athletics, the most by any country, followed by China’s 462. India takes the third spot.
Here are some of the top performances by Indian athletes that has contributed to the medal tally:
Lavinho Thomas Pinto
Lavy Pinto in action at the Asian Games. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
Trained by Benson Proudfoot, Lavinho Thomas Pinto was 20 when he won the sprint double in the Bombay State Athletics Meet and started dominating the national scene the following year. In 1951, at the inaugural Asian Games, he emerged as the fastest man in Asia with victories in the 100m and 200m in 10.8 and 22 seconds, respectively.
His medals helped India finish with 10 golds in athletics, only one less than Japan in that edition. Having suffered from a muscle pull after his 100m sprint, he was not able to perform as he would have wanted in the 4x100m relay as the Japanese took the lead after three legs. Along with Alfred Shamin, M Gabriel and Ram Swaroop, he was delighted to take silver, ahead of the Philippines quartet.
Milkha Singh
India’s Milkha Singh (234) after finishing the 400m dash at the Asian Games in Jakarta on August 27, 1962. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
The ‘Flying Sikh’ was in good form ahead of the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo. He won gold in his pet event, the 400m, clocking 47 seconds, more than two seconds faster than silver-medallist Pablo Somblingo.
In the 200m event, Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan, who won the 100m gold with a new Games record, was also a favourite. Singh ran the final in 21.6 seconds, setting a new Asian Games record in the process and pulled a muscle in his leg.
Repeating his gold medal-winning performance at the 1962 Asian Games, Singh won two golds in the 400m and 4x400m relay.
This meant that Milkha Singh won four gold medals in Asiad.
PT Usha
Indian sprint queen P.T. Usha (center) in action at the IX Asian Games held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi on November 28, 1982. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
With 11 Asian Games medals to her name, Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha, or PT Usha is the most decorated Indian athlete in the tournament’s history. With a career spanning over two decades, PT Usha dominated the multi-sporting event like no other.
Nicknamed the Payyoli Express, PT Usha took part in five Asiads and won at least one medal in four of them. Her shining performance at the Games turned her into the poster girl of Indian athletics in the 1980s.
In Asian Games 1982, the Kerala athlete won silver in the 100m sprint, clocking 11.95, behind Philippines’ Lydia de Vega, who timed 11.76. She won yet another silver in the 200m, with a time of 24.32.
She continued the momentum in the next Asiad in Seoul, South Korea, recording the highest individual medal tally in track and field at the 1986 Asiad, winning four gold and one silver.
The Payyoli Express returned to the track for the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, China. Despite injuries, PT Usha managed to win three silver medals in 400m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay.
At the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, PT Usha was already a well reputed track and field athlete. The Indian added another silver medal to her kitty in the 4x400m relay.
While she did compete in the 1998 edition, PT Usha could not win a medal, finishing fourth in the 4x400m relay and sixth in the 200m sprint.
Hima Das
India’s Hima Das reacts as she crosses the finish line in her women’s 400m heat during the athletics competition at the 18th Asian Games. | Photo Credit: AP
At the 2018 Asian Games, Das qualified for the 400m final, after clocking 51.00 in heat 1 and setting a new national record. She improved her national record to 50.79s in the final, but could only win silver.
She, along with M.R. Poovamma, Sarita Gayakwad and V. K. Vismaya won the women’s 4 × 400 metres relay clocking 3:28.72. Hima also won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 mixed relay, which was held for the first time at Asian Games
Bahrain, which originally won the gold medal, was met with protest from the Athletics Federation of India for obstructing Das during the final. After passing on the baton to Salwa Eid Naser, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya fell in the path of Das, obstructing her way. However, the protest was rejected by the Asian Games’ Jury of Appeals.
However, the team’s silver was upgraded to gold as Bahrain was disqualified with Kemi Adekoya being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit for failing a dope test.
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