Nagoya, 24 Sep 2026 – Vietnam made history on the opening day of athletics at ASIAD 2026 after claiming bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay, securing the country’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the event.
The mixed 4x400m relay final brought the athletics programme to an exciting conclusion late on September 24 in Japan, with eight teams competing for the medals: China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, India and Bahrain. Vietnam fielded a quartet of Ta Ngoc Tuong, Quach Thi Lan, Le Ngoc Phuc and Nguyen Thi Ngoc, who produced an impressive performance to finish on the podium.
Ta Ngoc Tuong ran the opening leg for Vietnam and made a strong start, keeping the team in second place before handing the baton to Quach Thi Lan. The experienced Thanh Hoa athlete accelerated strongly during the second leg and remained close to the UAE runner at the front of the race, keeping Vietnam firmly in medal contention. Le Ngoc Phuc then took over for the third leg and delivered an excellent run, increasing the pace and eventually moving Vietnam into the lead.
The race took another dramatic turn during the final leg when the UAE team dropped the baton and fell out of contention. Nguyen Thi Ngoc received the baton with Vietnam in an excellent position and moved to the front, but Bahrain and India launched powerful late challenges. Both teams managed to pass the Vietnamese runner approaching the finish, leaving Vietnam to cross the line in third place.
Vietnam recorded a time of 3:14.54 to secure the bronze medal. Bahrain claimed gold in 3:12.87, setting a new Asian Games record, while India narrowly edged Vietnam for silver with 3:14.46 — just eight hundredths of a second separating the two teams at the finish.
The result marked a significant milestone for Vietnamese athletics, as it was the country’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the mixed 4x400m relay. The quartet also improved on Vietnam’s gold-medal performance at the 2025 SEA Games, where the team had clocked 3:15.07, underlining their progress at the continental level.
The bronze was also the first medal for Vietnam’s athletics team at ASIAD 2026. Following the historic performance, the Vietnam sports delegation awarded the relay team an immediate bonus of VND 50 million in recognition of their achievement.
VSN/RPT
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