The Asian men’s 4x100m relay landscape shifted decisively in 2025. What once constituted medal-winning territory in the low 39-second range is no longer sufficient.
Across major championships and regional meets, the standard has moved sharply into the mid-38s, creating what can best be described as the “sub-38.50 imperative” for any team with podium ambitions at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi–Nagoya .
At the forefront of this shift remains Japan, whose men’s relay program continues to operate at a level comparable with global elites. A best of 37.84 seconds in 2025 reaffirmed their dominance, underpinned by an Asian Area Record of 37.43 set in 2019. Japan’s consistency below 38 seconds is not simply a product of individual sprint speed but of decades of refinement in baton exchange mechanics and non-visual handovers. They remain the continental gold standard and, realistically, the benchmark that others chase rather than displace.
Behind Japan, however, the competitive order has tightened dramatically. South Korea’s gold at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in 38.49 seconds also a championship record demonstrated a system built on operational stability. The same core group replicated almost the identical performance (38.50) later in the year at the World University Games, despite a minor personnel change. This repeatability is significant: it signals that 38.49 seconds is not an outlier but a dependable baseline for Korea, setting a minimum requirement for rivals hoping to challenge them.
Thailand’s emergence has been the most disruptive development of the season. After running 38.78 for silver at the Asian Championships, the Thai quartet exploded to a SEA Games record of 38.28 seconds in December 2025. Central to that leap was Puripol Boonson, whose 9.94-second 100m made him the first Southeast Asian sprinter to break the 10-second barrier.
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That raw speed, deployed on the critical second leg, instantly elevated Thailand into serious Asian Games silver contention. While questions remain about whether that late-season peak can be reproduced earlier in the year at Nagoya, the message is clear: the medal bar has been lowered into the low-38.30s.
China remains the most volatile presence in the Asian relay equation. Historically capable of sub-38.60 performances, including their gold-winning run at the 2022 Asian Games, China’s challenge has increasingly been technical reliability. Their disqualification at the 2025 Asian Championships for an exchange outside the zone was a stark reminder that elite sprint depth counts for little without flawless baton execution. For disciplined teams, China’s inconsistency represents both a threat and an opportunity.
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Against this backdrop, India’s new national record of 38.69 seconds, set in April 2025, assumes a nuanced significance. Clocked by Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain, the time immediately placed India closer to the continental elite than ever before.
Historically, 38.69 would have been enough to secure an Asian Games medal it is faster than South Korea’s silver-winning time of 38.75 from 2022. In 2026 terms, however, it currently projects as a fourth or fifth-place performance.
The encouraging element lies beneath the headline time. The combined personal bests of the Indian quartet total 40.82 seconds, meaning the relay performance already benefits from a Calculated Relay Gain (CRG) of 2.13 seconds. That figure indicates a strong technical base, reflecting effective use of running starts and reasonably efficient baton exchanges. Crucially, it suggests that India’s required improvement roughly 0.20 to 0.40 seconds to reach the 38.30–38.50 medal window does not depend entirely on dramatic individual speed gains. Instead, it can be achieved most efficiently through exchange optimisation.
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This is where the strategic focus must sharpen. To realistically challenge for bronze, India needs to run 38.49 or faster—essentially matching South Korea’s stable output. To dream of silver, the target tightens towards 38.30. Translating the numbers, that means increasing the CRG from 2.13 seconds to around 2.35–2.40 seconds. At that level, exchanges are executed deep inside the 30-metre zone, with minimal deceleration and near-perfect synchronisation between outgoing and incoming runners.
India’s current athlete profiles support this technical pathway. Kujur and Borgohain both possess strong 200m credentials, ideal for maintaining velocity through curves and anchoring the final leg. Hoblidhar’s straight-line speed suits the high-pressure third leg, while Gurindervir’s consistency off the blocks stabilises the opening exchange. The challenge now is not selection but repetition running the same quartet, in the same order, under championship-level pressure until exchanges become reflexive.
Equally important is timing the peak. The national record came early in the 2025 season, in April. The 2026 Asian Games fall in late September, demanding a very different periodisation approach. India must resist the temptation of early-season highs and instead structure training so that maximum speed, technical sharpness and psychological readiness converge at Nagoya.
The broader takeaway from 2025 is unequivocal: Asia’s relay race has accelerated, and India is no longer chasing relevance but relevance-plus. A medal is achievable, but only if the program embraces the sub-38.50 reality and commits fully to technical excellence.
In a discipline where medals are often decided by hundredths and sometimes by disqualifications clean execution may prove as decisive as raw speed.
