Sawan Barwal wins Asian Games marathon silver, India's first in 44 years

Sawan Barwal finished second in the men's marathon at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, 26 September 2026, and lowered his own national record. The race was over 42.195 km at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. The Hindu reported his time as 2 hours 11 minutes 37 seconds, behind Japan's Ichitaka Yamashita in 2:10:49, with China's Peiyou Feng third in 2:12:13. The Indian Express reported Barwal in 2:11:36 and Yamashita, 29, in 2:10:51, a second or two apart from The Hindu on each clock. The Express named the Chinese runner Feng Peiyou and said he led alone after five kilometres.

The medal is India's fourth in the Asian Games marathon, and the first since 1982. The Hindu said the previous one was Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan's bronze in New Delhi that year. The Indian Express listed Chhota Singh, gold at the inaugural Games in New Delhi in 1951 in 2:42:58.6, and Surat Singh Mathur, bronze in 1951 in 2:53:49.8. Seetharan's 1982 bronze was 2:25:07. The 1951 and 1982 medals were won in New Delhi, so Saturday's silver is the first of them won outside India.

Barwal, 28, is an Army runner from Joginder Nagar in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. The Hindu said he moved to the marathon only this year, after the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the half marathon, and that this was his second national record in two marathons. In April, at the NN Marathon in Rotterdam, he ran 2:11:58 and broke Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old national record. The Indian Express said that run made him the first Indian under 2 hours 12 minutes. On The Hindu's clock, 2:11:37 is 21 seconds faster than Rotterdam. The Express clock of 2:11:36 is 22 seconds faster.

He told PTI, in The Hindu: "The way I trained, the target was to finish with a medal, not to better 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)." The Hindu said conditions were about 21 degrees Celsius, with some wind and drizzle. The Indian Express said that after five kilometres he was in a lead pack of six, on a split printed as 15.28, 0:01 behind Feng. At halfway he and Yamashita were side by side in 1:05:54, the time The Hindu also gives for Barwal in second place. The Express said they were still together at 35 km, that Barwal then went ahead, and that Yamashita had a lead by 39 km. At 40 km Barwal was 26 seconds back. Yamashita kept that lead into the stadium. The Express said he was the seventh Japanese man to win the Asian Games marathon, and the first to do it on home soil.

Barwal told PTI, via The Hindu: "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." He said that around 37 or 38 km only three were left, that the third runner then dropped off, and that the Japanese athlete was ahead over the closing kilometres. "The pace was fast, so I tried to keep up with my comfortable pace."

The Hindu also reported his background. His father, Kuldeep, worked as a driver in New Delhi, and his mother, Subhadra Devi, is a homemaker. An elder brother was on the school track team. Barwal started 1,500m training at 14. His first national-level race was a 3,000m in the under-18 section in 2015, and his first senior race was the 5,000m at the 2021 Federation Cup. He won the 5,000m and the 10,000m at the 2025 National Games in Dehradun. In 2019 he joined the Army on the sports quota.

Kartik Karkera, the other Indian starter, finished 17th in 2:22:41. The Hindu and The Indian Express agree on that place and that time.