Commonwealth Games 2026: Indian Judo athlete Asmita Dey has created history by becoming the first from the country in the category to strike gold, doing so in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 on July 31, Friday. After beating Scotland’s Summer Shaw in a closely-contested semi-final, the 23-year-old toppled Canada’s Heidi Quach in the final of the Women’s 48 KG competition, thereby etching history.
Commonwealth Games 2026: Who is Asmita Dey?
Asmita Dey was born on March 22, 2003, in Belonia, South Tripura. The 23-year-old comes from a very humble background and is the daughter of a bicycle repair shop owner. Having started her career with Athletics, a coach later spotted her talent and transitioned into judo. Asmita has received backing too from Sports Authority of India and reportedly trains at the SAI Regional Centre in Bhopal under coach Yashpal Solanki.
Commonwealth Games 2026: Can Harsh Singh and Yamini Mourya win gold medals too?
Along with Asmita, Harsh Singh and Yamini Mourya had also sealed their qualification in the final after beating Australia’s Pedro Carlos Antun Neto and Africa’s Donne Breytenbach, respectively, in the semi-finals. The country’s eyes will be on them and they would hope to take inspiration from their compatriot to reign supreme in their respective finals.
As far as Judo is concerned, Sushila Devi Likmabam, Tulika Mann and Navjot Channa had clinched silver, while Vijay Kumar Yadav and Sunil Kumar won bronze. Hence, it makes Asmita India’s first-ever gold medallist in Judo. The youngster has become the fourth gold medallist of Commonwealth Games 2026, joining the likes of Mirabai Chanu (Women’s weightlifting – 48kg), Dilip Mahadu Gavit (Men’s 100m T47 para-athletics), Sharmila Dhankar (Women’s Shot Put F57 para-athletics).
India will have more hopes of getting gold from the Boxing contingent and Neeraj Chopra, who has claimed the highest prize in Gold Coast in Commonwealth Games 2018. So far, India have won overall 18 medals.
