Asian Para Games 2026: Sandeep, Haney Smash World Records For Athletics Gold As India Cross 100-Medal Mark

India crossed the 100-medal milestone at the Asian Para Games 2026 on Friday, with Sandeep and Haney producing world-record performances to win gold in the men's 400m T64 and men's javelin throw F37/38 events, respectively.

The country's athletics contingent also added two silver medals through Nimisha Chakkungalparambil and Parmod Bijarnia.

Sandeep clocked 52.28 seconds in the men's 400m T64 final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium to establish a new world record.

Saudi Arabia's Nour Alsana finished second in 53.13 seconds, recording a season's best, while India's Ajay Kumar claimed bronze in 53.61 seconds with a new Games record. China's Huang Ruihua finished fourth in 54.39 seconds, setting a personal best.

Haney delivered another record-breaking performance in the men's javelin throw F37/38 final, sending the spear to 60.49m to secure gold with 1,116 Raza points.

Iran's Hormoz Seidikazpounji took silver with a personal-best throw of 50.68m, earning 1,009 points. China's Yu Chengjie finished third with an Asian-record effort of 53.66m, collecting 943 points.

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The F37 and F38 classifications compete together in this event, with athletes ranked according to Raza points rather than distance alone. This scoring system explains why Seidikazpounji finished ahead of Yu despite throwing a shorter distance.

India's medal tally also received a boost from Nimisha and Parmod, who finished second in their respective events. Nimisha recorded a best effort of 5.37m in the women's long jump T47, earning silver behind Sri Lanka's Dhananjana Wickramasinghe.

The Sri Lankan athlete won gold with a Games-record jump of 5.52m, while China's Chen Jin took bronze with 5.17m.

In the men's 1500m T46, Parmod crossed the finish line in 4:09.65 to claim silver. Sri Lanka's Puwakpitikande P. Wahumpurage won the event in a Games-record time of 4:03.25, finishing 6.40 seconds ahead of the Indian. The Philippines' King James Reyes secured bronze in 4:13.81, setting a personal best.

In the men's 400m, Sandeep and Alsana compete under the T44 classification, while Ajay belongs to T64. Both categories cover athletes with lower-limb impairments and are often combined in track events.

The T47 classification applies to athletes with upper-limb impairments affecting one arm, while T46 covers standing athletes with upper-limb impairments, including certain amputations or comparable functional limitations.

With two world records, a Games record and multiple podium finishes, India's athletics contingent contributed significantly to the country's progress past the 100-medal mark at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.