Bhavikkumar Bharwad disqualified for lane violation at Asian Para Games, loses 400m silver

India's Bhavikkumar Bharwad has suffered a major setback at the Asian Para Games 2026. He was disqualified from the men's 400m T47 final for breaking lane rules, and the silver medal he had won was taken back.

The race was held on Thursday at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Japan. Bhavikkumar had finished second in 49.31 seconds. Another Indian athlete was ahead of him: Dilip Mahadu Gavit (T46) won the gold medal, finishing in 48.27 seconds.

After the race, however, action was taken against Bhavikkumar. He was found guilty of breaking the rules under TR 18.2 (c). The reason given was that he did not follow the rule on his assigned lane.

A Japanese athlete benefited from Bhavikkumar's exit. Kakeru Ishida, who had clocked 49.58 seconds, moved up to second place. Uzbekistan's Marufjon Murodulloev and Sri Lanka's Saman Subasinghe were jointly placed third. Both finished in an identical 50.03 seconds, the best performance of the season for each.

There was good news for India as well. Maharashtra's Dilip Gavit has now won his second gold medal at these Games. He had earlier won gold in the men's 100m T47 event, in which Dilip (T46 category) recorded the best time of 10.69 seconds.

In the same 100m T47 event, Basil won another medal for India. Basil (T47 category) took silver in 10.72 seconds and also set a new record for the event.

Dilip Gavit's record has been impressive before too. He won gold in the men's 400m T47 at the Asian Para Games 2022, a medal that was India's historic 100th at those Games. At the Paris 2024 Paralympics he also reached the final of the men's 400m T47 and raised the country's name.