Neeraj Chopra To Lead 73-Member Indian Athletics Squad At Asian Games 2026

Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will spearhead India's 73-member athletics squad at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, as he aims to defend his men's javelin throw title for the third consecutive time, according to Olympics.com.

The Asian Games are scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 4, with 16 athletes in India's athletics contingent having won medals at the previous edition in Hangzhou, including five individual champions returning to defend their titles.

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Chopra, the reigning Asian Games champion, will be joined in the men's javelin throw by Rohit Yadav, who recently recorded a personal best of 87.68m while winning at the World Athletics Silver Level Continental Tour meet in Bhubaneswar.

The squad also features Hangzhou 2023 champions Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Parul Chaudhary and Annu Rani, who will look to retain their respective titles.

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Sable, who won gold in the men's 3000m steeplechase and silver in the 5000m event at Hangzhou, will return after an injury-hit period. Toor will aim for a hat-trick of Asian Games shot put titles, while Parul Chaudhary has been selected for three events -- 1500m, 5000m and 3000m steeplechase, according to Olympics.com.

Rajesh Ramesh, a member of India's gold medal-winning men's 4x400m relay team at Hangzhou, is also part of the squad.

Other Hangzhou medallists included in the team are Jyothi Yarraji, Murali Sreeshankar, Tejaswin Shankar, Gulveer Singh, Mohammed Afsal, Ancy Sojan, Praveen Chithravel and Vithya Ramraj.

Tejas Shirse has also been selected for the men's 110m hurdles despite suffering two stress fractures in his left foot during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

India will look to continue its strong performance in athletics after producing its best-ever Asian Games medal haul in the sport at Hangzhou 2023, where the country won 29 medals, including six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze.