By Vipul Kashyap
Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 29 : Indian athletes Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayan, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra expressed their happiness after winning the bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay at the Asian Games 2026, saying the team’s belief, preparation and execution helped them secure a podium finish.
The Indian team clocked 41.06 seconds in a rain-hit final to finish third behind China, who won gold with a time of 40.78 seconds, while Thailand secured the silver medal after clocking 40.87 seconds.
Gurindervir Singh gave India a strong start in the opening leg, before Sneha maintained the momentum in the second leg. Animesh Kujur carried the baton in the third leg, while Harita Bhadra delivered a strong finish in the anchor leg to secure India’s place on the podium.
Speaking to ANI, Gurindervir Singh said he was thrilled to win the medal and share the moment with his family. He added that the team had faith in each other, gave their best effort and executed their plan perfectly to secure a podium finish.
"I’m extremely excited. I’ll go home with the medal, see their smiles, and share in their joy. I’ll see the medal in their hands. I’m very excited...I had faith in my team, and I had faith in myself. We knew that if gave it our hundred percent, we would definitely stand on the podium, and that’s exactly what we did. We executed the plan perfectly," he said.
Sneha also expressed happiness after winning the bronze medal, adding that the race was special for her after the women’s relay team missed out on a medal in the 4x100m relay event by a narrow margin yesterday.
“I am feeling extremely happy, and I can’t express this happiness in words...This race was very important to me. Yesterday, in the women’s relay, we made a mistake and lost our medal by a fraction of a second. So, this medal was very important to me," she said.
Animesh Kujur said he was unable to express his happiness after winning the medal, adding that he put aside his individual event disappointment and focused on helping India secure a podium finish. Notably, Kujur had finished fifth in the men’s 200m final on Sunday.
"I can’t quite put this feeling into words right now because I had been preparing for this competition all year long. In my individual event, I didn’t perform quite as well as I had expected...I put all of that aside.I stepped out today with the sole thought of winning a medal for India, and we finally did it," he said.
Harita Bhadra said she was delighted with the bronze medal, adding that the team’s year-long preparation paid off and thanking everyone who supported her.
"I am very happy. We had been preparing all year for this goal, and I am so happy we could execute it. I am very happy and very grateful to everyone who supported me," she said.