India’s Sandeep raced his way to a gold medal with a world record performance in the men’s 400m T44 at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday. Sandeep clocked 52.28 seconds, a world record, to win the 400m T64 final at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. He finished 0.85s ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Nour Alsana (53.13s season’s best).
Indian compatriot Ajay Kumar took bronze in 53.61, also a Games Record, while China’s Huang Ruihua was fourth with a personal best of 54.39. Incidentally, Sandeep’s gold medal was India’s 100th in the 2026 edition of and the second time in a row.
In the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023, India had won 107 medals. Notably, T44 and T64 are both lower-limb classifications and are often run together. It was also Sandeep’s debut.
Hailing from Bhini Badshahpur village in Hisar, Haryana, Sandeep belongs from a middle-class family. While his father, Shersingh, is a farmer, his mother, Kamlesh, is a homemaker. He was born with weakness in his right leg and was subject to physical challenges since birth.
However, Sandeep’s determination and passion for sports motivated him to pursue his dreams and began his para-athletics journey only in 2020. His efforts soon paid off when he won his first medal at the Para National Games held in Bengaluru in 2021.
This achievement encouraged him to continue improving his performance and competing at higher levels. With the guidance and support of his coach, Vipin Kumar, Sandeep continued to develop his skills in the T44 category, specializing in sprint events.
Through consistent training, dedication, and perseverance, Sandeep has continued to progress as a para-athlete. Later on the day, Sandeep had to settle for a bronze in the men’s 100m T44 final, with a timing of 11.67s.
At the 2022 Asian Para Games, two Indian athletes competed in this event, finishing in 5th and 7th positions with timings of 12.34s and 12.48s, respectively. With this result, Sandeep concludes his Asian Para Games 2026 campaign with one gold and one bronze.
