Her mother thought she was in Bengaluru. Seema Kumari was actually winning Asian Games bronze in Nagoya

On Thursday night, when a beaming Seema Kumari took a short lap of honour draped in the tricolour, congratulatory messages began pouring in. It was perhaps then that her mother realised her daughter was in Nagoya and not Bengaluru.Seema’s 75-year-old mother, who lives in Reta in Himachal Pradesh, suffers from hypertension. Concerned about her daughter’s well-being, she is often kept in the dark about Seema’s travels and competitions.But after the stupendous performance Seema delivered on a windy night at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, her mother will have plenty to celebrate. So will a nation, after the 25-year-old opened India’s athletics medal account with a bronze in the women’s 10,000m.In a tight race, Seema clocked 32:50.05 to finish behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi (32:39.18) and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka (32:41.54).Her bronze ended India’s 16-year wait for a medal in the event at the Asian Games. Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut had won gold and silver respectively, at the 2010 Games.It was a race built on endurance, pace, persistence and planning. Up against a star-studded field, Seema could have been forgiven for feeling the pressure. Instead, she focused on the distance rather than the runners around her.Her consistency was remarkable. Across all 25 laps, she never fell out of the leading pack. With two laps to go, she even raised hopes of a silver, but Bahrain’s Yavi stepped on the gas at the 200m mark and Tanaka accelerated, leaving Seema to settle for bronze.For Seema, who lost her father at a young age and is one of six siblings, it was a special medal on her Asian Games debut.“The race was very tactical. Everyone ran for the medal and I also thought that I would fight for it. Although I’m happy that I’ve earned a medal in my first Asian Games, I hope to change the colour of the medal in the 5000 metres event.”The past year-and-a-half has seen Seema on a rising curve training under coach Scott Simmons.“I’ve been training with Simmons for the past three years and have been sent to the USA for camps and training. It is very beneficial because conditions are tough there and we train with Olympic champions,” she said. Seema won a silver at the World University Games last year.As expected, India’s medal of the day came from the 4x400m mixed relay team. In a thrilling comeback, the quartet of Manu Saji, MR Poovamma, Vishal TK and Vithya Ramraj clocked 3:14.46 to take silver behind Bahrain, who won gold in a Games-record timing of 3:12.87.India did not have the best of starts, with Manu unable to provide the initial momentum. Poovamma, however, hauled the team back into contention with a strong second leg.Vishal then closed the gap and put India firmly in medal bracket before Vithya produced an impressive anchor leg. With the Vietnam runner breathing down her neck, she held her nerve in the home straight to fend off the challenge. The Vietnamese quartet finished just 0.08 seconds behind with 3:14.54. Jay Kumar and Kiran Phal, who ran the morning heats, were replaced with Vishal and Vithya for the final.Asha Ilango narrowly missed out on a triple jump medal, finishing fourth behind China’s Li Yi on countback after both athletes recorded a best jump of 13.83m. Asha needed to better 13.79m with her final attempt to move ahead of Li, but could manage only 13.59m. The other Indian in the fray, Niharika Vashisht, finished 10th.Gurindervir Singh eased into the 100m semifinals. He clocked 10.38 seconds to finish second in Heat 4. Animesh Kujur also qualified for the 100m semifinals.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.