SBI-Supported Athletes Win 11 Medals at Asian Games 2026
State Bank of India (SBI) has felicitated nine athletes supported by the bank and SBI Foundation who collectively won 11 medals for India at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The nine medal winners were among 22 SBI-supported athletes who participated in the Games as part of the Indian contingent of 501 athletes. Their tally comprised one gold, three silver and seven bronze medals, according to SBI.
The athletes receive support through the Gearing for Olympic Dominance (GOLD) programme, run by SBI and SBI Foundation in partnership with the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). The programme supports athletes across five track and field disciplines and is designed to help them prepare for international competitions.
The medal winners named by SBI included Vithya Ramraj and Prachi Choudhary, members of the women’s 4×400 relay team; silver medallists Jay Kumar, Gulveer Singh, Vishal T K and Manu T S; and bronze medallists Parul Chaudhary, Rohit Yadav and Rajesh Ramesh.
Beyond financial assistance, the programme provides training, diet and nutrition support, accommodation, sports science assistance and a monthly stipend. These forms of support address some of the practical requirements of an athlete’s development, allowing preparation to extend beyond competition-day performance.
At the felicitation ceremony in Mumbai on October 22, SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said the athletes’ achievements could encourage younger people to pursue sports. SBI Foundation Managing Director Swapan Dhar said the bank group was expanding its corporate social responsibility work in sports and supporting athletes across disciplines and backgrounds.
SBI Foundation’s sports programme represents one approach to corporate involvement in athletic development: supporting preparation and training rather than limiting assistance to recognition after a medal-winning performance. The release, however, does not disclose the programme’s overall budget, the duration of individual athletes’ support or how their progress is assessed.
With international competitions ahead, including the Los Angeles Olympics, sustained support for training, nutrition and sports science will remain an important part of athletes’ preparation. The medal tally offers a measure of performance at the Games, while longer-term information on athlete progression and programme outcomes would help establish the wider impact of the initiative.
