Deepthi Jeevanji Wins Gold at Asian Para Games 2026 in Record 56.36s

Deepthi Jeevanji wins gold at Asian Para Games 2026 in the women’s 400m T20 event, stopping the clock at 56.36 seconds to set a new Games record in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. According to Akashvani News, she finished more than two seconds clear of Japan’s Niina Kanno, who took silver in 58.92 seconds. The medal is India’s fifth gold of the Games and the first of Day 2.

For Indian para-athletics, this is a statement run from a sprinter who arrived in Japan as a Paris 2024 Paralympics bronze medallist. It also came on a busy day for the Indian contingent, with medal-stage progress in para badminton and archery.

Written by Shashank Shekhar Dwivedi, Editor at CareerView24 | October 20, 2026 | Source: Official News & Reliable Media

Key Takeaways

• Deepthi Jeevanji won gold in the women’s 400m T20 at the 2026 Asian Para Games, India’s fifth gold of the Games and the first of Day 2.
• Her winning time was 56.36 seconds, reported as a new Games record.
• Japan’s Niina Kanno took silver in 58.92 seconds, and Japan’s Akane Kato won bronze.
• Para table tennis player Bhavina Patel added a bronze after a 3-0 semifinal defeat to China’s Zhang Bian.
• Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass reached the para badminton mixed semifinals, assuring India of a medal, while six archers advanced to the quarterfinals.

Deepthi Jeevanji Wins Gold at Asian Para Games 2026: How the Final Unfolded

The women’s 400m T20 final was one of the early athletics highlights of the Asian Para Games, which run from 18 to 24 October in Aichi and Nagoya. Akashvani News reports that Deepthi dominated the race, and her 56.36 seconds was enough to beat the field by a wide margin.

The report does not include lap splits or a race narrative, so those details are best left to the official results. What it does confirm is the finishing order: Deepthi first, Niina Kanno of Japan second, and Akane Kato, also of Japan, third. Kanno’s silver-medal time was 58.92 seconds. The report does not state Kato’s time.

Want to see how the day played out? Sport Circle’s Day 2 live watch-along, built around Deepthi Jeevanji’s 400m T20 final, is embedded below.

Why the 56.36-Second Time Stands Out

Two numbers explain the scale of this win. The first is the margin. The gap between 56.36 and 58.92 seconds is 2.56 seconds, which is a long way in a one-lap sprint.

The second is the record. The Deepthi Jeevanji Games record improves on the 56.69 seconds she ran to win gold at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, held in October 2023. PTI described that earlier time as both a Games and Asian record. The new mark is 0.33 seconds quicker.

In other words, when Deepthi Jeevanji wins gold at Asian Para Games 2026, she is also beating her own earlier benchmark. Official results from the organisers remain the final word on how the record is listed.

Women’s 400m T20 Medal Results

Source: Akashvani News report on the final.

About the 2026 Asian Para Games

The Asian Para Games is a continental multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities. It is separate from the Asian Games and from the Paralympic Games, although it follows the same host region as the Asian Games. This edition, known as Aichi-Nagoya 2026, is the fifth Asian Para Games and the first to be hosted in Nagoya.

The Asian Paralympic Committee says the Games feature 18 para sports and bring together around 3,000 athletes from 45 National Paralympic Committees. India sent a 281-member contingent, according to Outlook India.

Other Indian Athletes’ Performances at the Games

Deepthi was not the only Indian name in the news on the day. Akashvani News also reported the following results.

Para table tennis. Bhavina Patel, a silver medallist at the 2020 Paralympics, secured bronze in the Women’s Singles Class 4-5. She lost her semifinal 0-3 to China’s Zhang Bian, with scores of 7-11, 5-11 and 7-11.

Para badminton. In the mixed SL3-SU5 category, Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass beat Thailand’s Srinavakul Chanida and Teamarrom Siripong 21-15, 21-14 in the quarterfinals. The win put them in the semifinals and assured India of a medal.

Para archery. Harvinder Singh, Bhawna, Sheetal Devi, Payal Nag, Toman Kumar and Shyam Sunder Swami all advanced to the quarterfinals of their individual events. Harvinder progressed in the men’s recurve event and Bhawna in the women’s recurve category. The report does not name the events for the other four archers.

Who Is Deepthi Jeevanji?

Deepthi Jeevanji is an Indian para-athlete who specialises in the 400m T20. Akashvani News describes her as a Paris 2024 Paralympics bronze medallist. Media profiles, including The Bridge, place her roots in Kalleda in Telangana’s Warangal district.

Her record in the event is well documented. She won 400m T20 gold at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in 2023 and later set a world record in the event at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, according to sports reports from that time.

That history is why the news that Deepthi Jeevanji wins gold at Asian Para Games 2026 fits a clear pattern. She has now won the event at consecutive editions of the continental Games, and this time she did it faster than before.

What the T20 Classification Means

Para-athletics uses classification to group athletes so that competition stays fair. According to the World Para Athletics classification page, T20 is the sport class for athletes with an intellectual impairment. The “T” stands for track and jump events, while the related F20 class covers throws.

World Para Athletics describes intellectual impairment as a restriction in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour that affects the conceptual, social and practical skills needed for everyday life. Athletes in this group must meet VIRTUS eligibility criteria and appear on the VIRTUS International Eligibility Master list.

In practice, every athlete in the women’s 400m T20 final competes in the same sport class. That makes the 2.56-second margin a like-for-like comparison.

Why This Achievement Matters for Indian Para-Athletics

Three things make this result significant. First, it is a gold medal at a continental Games, and it came with a record. Second, it extends India’s gold tally to five, with Day 2 only just under way when the report was filed. Third, it keeps attention on T20 athletics, a class that receives less coverage than many other para events.

Readers should note what is still open. The report does not give India’s full medal tally, and the badminton and archery results are interim progress, not final medals. Those will be settled in the rounds that follow. For more updates like this, browse our sports current affairs coverage, or revise key events through our daily current affairs posts.

Conclusion

In short, Deepthi Jeevanji wins gold at Asian Para Games 2026 with a 56.36-second run that beat the field by 2.56 seconds and, per Akashvani News, sets a new Games record. Her continued dominance in the women’s 400m T20 is a strong result for Indian para-athletics, and it arrives at a stage of the Games when the wider Indian contingent is still pushing for more medals.

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