Asian Athletics at a Crossroads: Silver and Bronze Without Gold at the World Athletics Championships
The 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo will be remembered as a paradox for Asia. The continent brought depth, promise, and flashes of brilliance but failed to deliver a single gold medal. For a region that consistently dominates its own continental championships, the inability to translate success into global triumph speaks volumes about where Asian athletics stands and where it must go.
India’s campaign itself reflected this broader story. Despite the high hopes riding on Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, and Sarvesh Kushare, only three Indians made it to finals. Compare this to Budapest 2023, where Jeswin Aldrin, Manu, Kishore Jena, Parul Chaudhary, and the men’s 4x400m relay joined Neeraj as finalists, or Eugene 2022, which saw Avinash Sable, Murali Sreeshankar, and Eldhose Paul in addition to javelin throwers. From six or seven finalists not long ago to just three now the dip is clear. The question is whether this is merely cyclical or a deeper systemic flaw.
A Global Picture of Power and Parity
The medal table in Tokyo highlighted the scale of the challenge. The United States topped with 16 gold and 26 medals, reinforcing its dominance across sprints, jumps, and throws. Kenya, built on middle- and long-distance excellence, was second with seven golds and 11 medals. Canada, the Netherlands, and Botswana all claimed multiple golds.
Against this backdrop, Asia’s combined tally was eight medals two silver and six bronze. China, with its massive delegation of 88 athletes, managed two silvers and two bronzes. South Korea earned one silver through Woo Sang-hyeok in the men’s high jump. Bahrain and Japan contributed two medals each, and Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba took bronze in the 400m hurdles. Not one Asian athlete or relay topped the podium.
The Narrow Margins That Matter
It wasn’t as if Asia lacked finalists or contenders. Several came agonizingly close. Woo Sang-hyeok cleared 2.34m in high jump, only two centimeters shy of New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. China’s Wang Zhaozhao finished second in the men’s 20km walk, just 43 seconds behind Brazil’s Caio Bonfim. Qatar’s Samba clocked 47.06 in the 400m hurdles, but Rai Benjamin stormed to gold in 46.52.
These narrow margins point to a recurring pattern: Asian athletes are world-class, but just short of gold-class. The gaps are measurable and real fractions of seconds, centimeters, the tiniest lapses in execution at the highest stage.
Country-by-Country: What Went Wrong
China: The region’s biggest sporting power entered Tokyo full of ambition. At the Asian Championships earlier in the year, China swept 19 golds, dwarfing its rivals. Yet on the world stage, it had to settle for two silvers and two bronzes in walks, hammer throw, and long jump. The Chinese system, highly effective regionally, has yet to produce the standout global champions who can consistently challenge the world’s best. The disconnect between 19 Asian golds and zero world golds is telling.
Bahrain: Long reliant on foreign-born talent, Bahrain’s medals in Tokyo came from Winfred Yavi (steeplechase silver) and Salwa Eid Naser (400m bronze). Both are established stars, but the country’s athletics federation is now under sanctions for recruitment practices and doping irregularities. With a forced pivot toward developing native athletes, Bahrain’s future medal prospects remain uncertain.
Japan: As hosts, Japan underwhelmed. Two bronzes in race walking were the only returns for a nation that has invested heavily in facilities and high-performance programs. Japan’s challenge isn’t resources—it’s converting them into results. The sophisticated Japan High Performance Sport Center has built depth, but gold still eludes them.
South Korea: Woo Sang-hyeok’s silver was heroic, but it was also a lone success. Athletics isn’t among the sports prioritized by the Korean government, which focuses on archery, fencing, shooting, swimming, and badminton. Without systemic support, it is difficult for Korea to build depth beyond rare individual brilliance.
Qatar: Samba’s bronze reflects a highly targeted strategy. Qatar doesn’t invest in broad grassroots development; it focuses on a few “super-athletes” who can compete globally. It works in producing stars but not in creating sustainable medal depth.
Lessons for India: The Missing Depth
For India, Tokyo was sobering. Neeraj Chopra’s javelin brilliance has for years been the nation’s defining global athletics story. In Tokyo, he remained the only genuine medal hope, though Sachin Yadav’s fourth-place finish brought promise. Beyond javelin, the finalists were Sarvesh Kushare in high jump and Sachin himself. Compare that with Budapest or Eugene, where multiple events gave India finalists, and the regression is evident.
The Paradox of Indian Athletics: Lessons from Tokyo 2025 and the Road Ahead
The problem is not talent India has proven world-class athletes across disciplines. The issue is depth and system. Too often, breakthroughs come from individual brilliance rather than a pipeline of consistently produced contenders. Athletics federations and policymakers must ask: are we investing enough in field events? Are middle- and long-distance runners getting the sports science support to bridge the final gaps? Are juniors being transitioned effectively into seniors?
The Broader Asian Problem: Regional vs Global
The Asian Championships paint a misleading picture of progress. China, Japan, and India regularly dominate, and continental titles are won with apparent ease. But the global stage exposes the difference between regional dominance and world-class competitiveness. The psychological barrier is real too where athletes from the U.S., Kenya, or Jamaica speak in terms of winning, too many Asian athletes settle for participation or personal bests. As Chinese hurdler Wu Yanni once remarked: “Just being able to participate is already a breakthrough.” That mindset is limiting. Until Asian athletes approach the world stage with the ruthless ambition to win, the gap will persist.
One area where Asia must catch up is technology. North America leads in the adoption of analytics, biomechanics, and injury prediction systems. The Asia-Pacific region is growing fast in this space, but federations are slow to integrate it. Japan has begun using digital performance monitoring, but broader, aggressive adoption is required across the continent. For India, this could be transformative. Using AI-driven load management, biomechanical analysis for jumpers and throwers, and nutrition-science integration could prevent injuries and push performances closer to world standards.
What Needs to Change
- Gold-Medal Mindset: The cultural focus must shift from participation to winning. Celebrating personal bests is important, but the goal must be the top of the podium.
- Talent Pipeline: Develop athletes from the junior level with a clear long-term plan, not just short-term bursts of success.
- Systemic Backing: Nations must decide if athletics is a priority. For India, athletics can’t just ride on javelin. Relays, jumps, and distance events need equal investment.
- Continental Collaboration: Asia should consider joint high-performance camps, bringing top athletes together to simulate world-class competition pressure.
- Technology Adoption: Invest in analytics and data-driven performance systems to bridge small but decisive margins.
Heading Toward 2026 and Beyond
The 2025 World Championships exposed both the promise and the fragility of Asian athletics. The continent can produce silver and bronze, sometimes within touching distance of gold, but has yet to cross that line consistently. For India, the regression in the number of finalists is a wake-up call. From six or seven finalists two years ago to three today, the trendline points to stagnation unless systemic corrections are made.
The future isn’t bleak. Asia has the talent, the numbers, and in countries like India and China, the passion. What it lacks is the ruthless efficiency of global leaders. If federations can combine regional dominance with global ambition backed by science, technology, and cultural shifts Tokyo 2025 might be remembered not as a low point, but as the turning point.
For now, the reality is sobering: Asia can stand on the podium, but not on the top step. And until that changes, the question will remain where are we really heading as an athletics continent?
