Hirosaki [Japan], May 30 (ANI): Team India, competing beneath the aegis of the Athletic Federation of India (AFI), delivered a historic efficiency on the IAU 24-Hour Asia & Oceania Championship held in Hirosaki, Japan, in May 2026, producing the best ends in the nation’s ultrarunning historical past and reaffirming India’s place as a dominant pressure within the sport.
The Indian males’s workforce achieved an unprecedented clear sweep of the person podium. Amar Singh Devanda gained the gold medal after overlaying 282.881 km (226 laps), setting a brand new Indian National Record. Geeno Antony secured the silver medal with 272.894 km (218 laps), whereas Saurav Kumar Ranjan claimed bronze with 260.058 km (208 laps), in line with a press launch from AFI.
India’s males’s workforce captured the workforce gold medal with a mixed distance of 815.833 km, establishing a brand new Asia-Oceania document. The efficiency is the highest-ever workforce complete by an Asian nation in any International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) Championship and the highest-ever complete recorded within the historical past of the IAU Asia-Oceania Championships. Japan completed second with 754.726 km, whereas Australia secured third place with 732.525 km.
In the ladies’s competitors, Japan claimed the workforce gold medal with 707.357 km, adopted by Australia with 684.450 km. India earned the bronze medal with a complete distance of 667.722 km. Tenzin Dolma led the Indian ladies’s workforce with a outstanding efficiency of 228.939 km, ending fourth general and setting a brand new Indian National Record.
The championship proved to be a landmark occasion for Indian ultrarunning. New Indian National Records had been established in each the 12-hour and 24-hour classes for women and men. The Indian males’s workforce recorded the highest-ever workforce complete by an Asian nation in any IAU Championship and set a brand new Asia-Oceania document. It was additionally the very best workforce efficiency ever achieved by India in each the boys’s and ladies’s classes at an IAU Championship. Eight of the eleven Indian athletes recorded private finest performances throughout the occasion.
Amar Singh Devanda narrowly missed the Asian Record by simply three kilometres, whereas the Indian males’s workforce fell in need of the very best workforce complete in world championship historical past by solely 13 kilometres. His profitable distance of 282.881 km at present stands as the most effective males’s 24-hour efficiency recorded anyplace on this planet in 2026.
‘We are grateful for this moment–it is an achievement your complete Indian ultrarunning neighborhood can have fun,’ mentioned Santhosh Padmanabhan, Team Head Coach and Manager. ‘This victory belongs not solely to the athletes, however to each supporter who believed in Indian ultrarunning.’
Reflecting on his historic achievement, Amar Singh Devanda mentioned, ‘This efficiency was not nearly distance or information. It was about representing India with satisfaction and pushing myself past each restrict bodily and mentally. There had been many moments throughout the race when the physique needed to cease, however the thoughts and the guts saved shifting ahead. To set a brand new Indian National Record and obtain the second-best efficiency ever by an Asian athlete on this occasion is really particular for me. I hope this evokes extra Indian athletes to imagine that we will compete with the easiest on this planet in endurance sports activities.
‘This achievement belongs not solely to me, but additionally to everybody who supported me all through this journey–my coach, household, workforce, AFI, supporters and each one that believed in me. I’m proud to hold the Indian flag on the worldwide stage, and that is solely the start.’
Tenzin Dolma, who led the Indian ladies’s workforce and established a brand new nationwide document, mentioned, ‘To come from a distant village within the mountains of Himachal and obtain success at this stage is really one thing particular. It brings not solely nice satisfaction but additionally hope and potential growth to my village. For athletes like myself, who come from difficult backgrounds, the best hurdle is usually discovering assist. As an ultra-athlete, funding is scarce–from authorities, non-public people, or company sponsors. I hope this achievement encourages extra individuals to step ahead and assist athletes like me who’ve the potential to excel on the world stage.
‘I’m deeply grateful and immensely proud, not solely to symbolize India, however to face among the many finest this time. I thank the AFI, Coach and your complete assist workforce for serving to me obtain the National Record.’
With this victory, India has now been topped Asia-Oceania Champions in 24-Hour Ultramarathon Running for 3 consecutive editions–2022, 2024 and 2026–underscoring the nation’s continued rise as a world pressure in endurance operating.
This success was made doable by the collective efforts of athletes, coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionists, power and conditioning specialists, and assist crew members who ensured the workforce remained absolutely ready all through coaching and competitors. The workforce was chosen and skilled beneath the aegis of the Athletic Federation of India (AFI).
Team India
Men: Amar Singh Devanda, Geeno Antony, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Sugourav Goswami, Velu Perumal
Women: Aparna Choudhary, Bindu Juneja, Mukesh Kumari, Shashi Mehta, Sunita Subba, Tenzin Dolma. (ANI)