Tejaswin Shankar delivered a historic performance to win India’s only gold medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships 2026, which concluded in Tianjin, China, on Sunday, February 8th, 2026. The Indian athlete broke the national heptathlon record on his way to the top of the podium, finishing with 5,993 points after leading the field with 3,513 points at the end of the first day.

Shankar bettered his own previous national record of 5,650 points set in 2021 and also registered a championship record, which stands as the second-best score ever achieved by an Asian. His victory ended India’s 16-year wait for a medal in the men’s heptathlon at the continental event, with PJ Vinod being the last Indian medallist in 2010.

In the men’s shot put, Olympian Tajinderpal Singh Toor claimed silver with a season-best throw of 20.05m, narrowly missing gold after China’s Chen Chengyu produced a 20.07m effort. Teenager Pooja secured silver in the women’s high jump after clearing 1.87m, breaking the indoor national record.

Ancy Sojan added a bronze in the women’s long jump, while J Aadarsh Ram had earlier won bronze in men’s high jump. India finished sixth overall with five medals, one gold, two silver, and two bronze.