New Delhi, 21 October 2026: Deepthi Jeevanji won the women’s 400m T20 gold at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday, 20 October, clocking a Games record of 56.36 seconds. It was India’s fifth gold of the Games and the first of Day 2, and it headed a busy day that also brought silver medals in shooting, powerlifting and javelin and a bronze in table tennis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the medallists in a series of messages released by the Press Information Bureau, confirming the results for Indian fans following the Games from home.
A dominant run in the 400m T20
Jeevanji, a Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist, finished more than two seconds clear of the field. Japan’s Niina Kanno took silver in 58.92 and her teammate Akane Kato took bronze in 1:00.26, so the home crowd saw the Indian runner set the pace from start to finish. The T20 class is for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
The margin matters for India’s para athletics programme. A Games record at a continental event, two years after a Paralympic podium, suggests Jeevanji is still improving as the cycle builds towards the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Other Indian medals and results
- Manish Narwal won silver in para shooting.
- Ashok won silver in para powerlifting.
- Pradeep Kumar won silver in the men’s javelin.
- Bhavina Patel, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic silver medallist, took bronze in women’s singles Class 4-5 table tennis after losing her semi-final 3-0 to China’s Zhang Bian.
- Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass beat a Thai pair 21-15, 21-14 in mixed SL3-SU5 badminton to reach the semi-finals, which guarantees them a medal.
- Six Indian archers reached the quarter-finals: Harvinder Singh and Bhawna in recurve, and Sheetal Devi, Payal Nag, Toman Kumar and Shyam Sunder Swami in compound.
PIB messages issued across 20 and 21 October also congratulated a long list of Indian bronze medallists, including Sonalben Patel, Himanshu Nandal, Srishti Arora, Baby Sahana Ravi, Jehan Dorab Madan, Prachi Pandey, Praveen Sharma and Ayush Verma, a sign of how widely the medals are being spread across sports this time.
Why this Games matters for India
India arrived in Japan with a large contingent and a target of matching or beating its record haul from the 2022 Games in Hangzhou. Early golds in athletics, along with a spread of podiums in shooting, powerlifting and table tennis, give the team momentum heading into the busiest days of the programme. For readers in Maharashtra and smaller towns like Jalna, the growth of para sport also shows how district-level coaching and classification camps can feed into international medals. Read our curtain-raiser: Asian Para Games 2026: India’s 281-member squad opens campaign in Japan.
Also on our site: PM’s congratulations on India’s 1500m gold.
Key facts
- Event: Asian Para Games 2026, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
- Deepthi Jeevanji won women’s 400m T20 gold in a Games record 56.36 seconds on 20 October.
- It was India’s fifth gold of the Games.
- Silvers: Manish Narwal (shooting), Ashok (powerlifting), Pradeep Kumar (javelin).
- Bronze: Bhavina Patel (table tennis, women’s singles Class 4-5).
- Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass are assured of a mixed badminton medal.
FAQ
What is the T20 classification?
T20 is the athletics class for track athletes with an intellectual impairment.
Has Deepthi Jeevanji won Paralympic medals before?
Yes. She won bronze in the women’s 400m T20 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Source: Free Press Journal — Deepthi Jeevanji wins 400m T20 gold with Games record; PIB — PM congratulates Deepthi Jeevanji
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