In Brief
- Sawan Barwal clocked 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 37 seconds, lowering his own national record by 21 seconds.
- The silver medal marks India's first Asian Games men's marathon medal since Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan won bronze at the 1982 Delhi Games.
- Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita claimed gold in 2:10:49, while China's Feng Peiyou secured bronze in 2:12:13.
Twenty-eight-year-old Indian Army runner Sawan Barwal secured a silver medal in the men's marathon at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on September 26, 2026. Competing in only his second official full marathon, the Himachal Pradesh athlete covered the 42.195 km distance in 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 37 seconds. Barwal maintained a steady pace in humid conditions, pulling ahead of the lead group after the 30 km mark to cross the finish line behind Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita (2:10:49) and ahead of China's Feng Peiyou (2:12:13).
The performance trimmed 21 seconds off Barwal's prior national record of 2:11:58, which he set at the NN Marathon Rotterdam in April 2026. Barwal became only the fourth Indian male runner to earn an Asian Games marathon medal, joining 1951 inaugural medalists Chhota Singh (gold) and Surat Singh Mathur (bronze), alongside 1982 bronze medalist Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan. Additionally, his performance secured India's first Asian Games marathon medal ever won on foreign soil.
