Asian Games 2026: Athletics Federation of India announces qualifying standards, selection criteria
Athletics Federation of India on Saturday announced the qualifying standards for Asian Games 2026 during a media interaction in New Delhi.
The 20th edition of the Asian Games is set to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023 where India clinched 107 medals, 29 – six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze – came in athletics, the most in any discipline.
As per the qualifying standards for this year’s edition, male athletes will have to break National Records in 100m and pole vault in order to be considered for selection. While the current National Records in men’s 100m and men’s pole vault are 10.18s (set by Animesh Kujur in 2025) and 5.40m (set by Dev Meena in 2025) respectively, the qualifying mark for the two events are 10.16s and 5.45m, respectively.
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Qualification marks for a few events will be decided later in the year. “We don’t have any data on the (4x100m) mixed relay. So, that is one event which the selection committee will later look at. There will be Asian Relays and World Relays before this (Asian Games). They will have a look at that and create the qualifying (standard). It is the same case for marathon walk. In these events, we don’t have any research data because this is a new event,” said AFI Spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla.
Further explaining the qualification criteria, Sumariwalla said, “The athletes must participate in a minimum of two competitions for the Inter-State and National Open Championships. In total, they must participate in three competitions, including mandatory participation at the State Championships.”
Qualifying Standards For Asian Games 2026
Men
100m – 10.16s
200m – 20.88s
400m – 45.97s
800m – 1:48.80s
1500m – 3:42.00s
5000m – 13:39.18s
10000m – 29:00.00s
3000m Steeplechase – 8:36.57s
110m hurdles – 13.63s
400m hurdles – 49.41s
Long Jump – 7.91m
Triple Jump – 16.28m
Pole Vault – 5.45m
High Jump – 2.19m
Shot Put – 19.41m
Javelin Throw – 77.87m
Discus Throw – 60.13m
Hammer Throw – 69.12m
21km Race Walk – Will be announced later
Marathon Walk – Will be announced later
Decathlon – 7250 points
Marathon – 2:15:04s
4x100m Relay – 38.81s
4x400m Relay – 3:04.23s
Women
100m – 11.54s
200m – 23.70s
400m – 53.72s
800m – 2:05.21s
1500m – 4:19.45s
5000m – 15:36.58s
10000m – 33:50.00s
3000m Steeplechase – 9:47.53s
100m hurdles – 13.34s
400m hurdles – 57.21s
Long Jump – 6.48m
Triple Jump – 13.34m
Pole Vault – 4.10m
High Jump – 1.80m
Shot Put – 16.25m
Javelin Throw -57.62m
Discus Throw – 55.48m
Hammer Throw – 61.72m
21km Race Walk – Will be announced later
Marathon Walk – Will be announced later
Heptathlon – 5605 points
Marathon – 2:31:52s
4x100m Relay – 45.24s
4x400m Relay – 3:31.23s
Mixed
4x100m Relay – Will be announced later
4x400m Relay – 3:26.81s
Published on Jan 03, 2026