Top News

Sharmila and Shilpa combined to form a historic double podium for India in women’s F57 shotput at the 2026 Commonwealth Games on Monday.

While Sharmila became India’s first-ever gold medallist in para athletics at the quadrennial event, Shilpa clinched the bronze medal.

Together, they are now the first Indian women to win a para athletics medal at the Commonwealth Games, whilst also ending the country’s 20-year wait for a medal at the Games in para athletics.

F57 is a seating category event, where para athletes are strapped to a chair as they attempt to throw the shot put.

Sharmila started her campaign with a 9.48m throw before improving it to 9.58m and then the eventual gold medal winning 9.81m with her third attempt.

Her remaining three attempts read 9.17m, 9.37m, and 9.60m as she secured the gold medal quite comfortably.

However, Shilpa’s road to the podium was anything but that.

She initially finished fourth with a best of 7.26m and was upgraded to the bronze medal only following a protest, which disqualified Nigeria’s Eucharia Iyiazi at the end of the event.

Medals galore in weightlifting

Meanwhile, India continued to add medals in weightlifting as Ajaya Babu Valluri, Gyaneshwari Yadav, and Bindyarani Devi all finished on the podium of their respective weight categories.

Ajaya was locked in an intense battle with the Malaysian weightlifter in men’s 79kg, eventually settling for silver by just a kilo at 330kg.

Gyaneshwari, meanwhile, fought period pains to record a total lift of 199kg, a national record, in women’s 53kg.

Bindyarani, on the other hand, won her second straight Commonwealth Games medal, bagging bronze in women’s 58kg with a lift of 199kg.

Sarvesh Kushare wins silver

Elsewhere in men’s high jump, Sarvesh Kushare became the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games silver medal in high jump.

Kushare registered a best of 2.25m along with Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford but had to settle for the second spot on countback.

Adarsh Ram, the other Indian in action in the event, finished fifth with 2.15m, while former national record holder Tejaswin Shankar did not finish the event, pulling out just a solitary attempt.

In the other track results, Tejas Shirse limped to the finish line after cramping in the men’s 110m hurdles to finish last with a timing of 15.39s.

Even disappointing was India’s fastest man Gurindervir Singh, who failed to advance to the men’s 100m semi-finals, clocking a below par 10.39s to finish 28th in the heats.

In field events, Murali Sreeshankar and Lokesh Sathyanathan both qualified for the men’s long jump final.

While Sreeshankar required just one attempt to breach the qualifying mark, Lokesh had to work hard in all his three attempts to go past the 8m mark and secure his spot in the final.

Sachin, Sakshi advance

In boxing, Sachin Siwach and Sakshi Chaudhary are now just a win away from medal with both reaching the quarter-finals of men’s 60kg and women’s 51kg respectively.

Ankush Panghal, in men’s 80kg, also followed suit, while Sumit Kundu (men’s 70kg) was knocked out after a split decision loss in the Round of 16.

Sajan Prakash falters in final

Meanwhile in the swimming pool, veteran Sajan Prakash swam well in the heats to qualify for the men’s 200m butterfly final.

He, however, faltered in the final to finish eighth out of eight competitors.

In para swimming men’s 100m SB9 breaststroke, India’s Swatik Patel finished fifth. He was promoted a spot after a post race disqualification.