Asian Para Games 2026: How Raza Points Decided 1500m Medals

Soumya won gold and Radha Venkatesh took silver for India in the women’s 1500m T12/T13 at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with the medals decided by Raza points rather than finishing times alone.

Soumya was the fastest athlete on the track, winning in 5:12.39 and recording 621 Raza points. Radha clocked 5:30.90, the slowest time among the five athletes in contention, but her performance was worth 421 points, the second-highest total in the event. That points total placed her second in the official medal order and completed India’s double podium.

The result is an important example of how combined-class para athletics events are decided. In races where athletes from more than one classification compete together, the first runner over the line is not necessarily the athlete who takes the highest placing.

Why Raza points are used in merged-class races

Para athletics classifications are based on the way an athlete’s impairment affects sporting performance. The T12 and T13 categories both apply to athletes with visual impairment, but T13 athletes have the least severe vision loss within the visual impairment classes. T12 athletes have more limited vision and may run with a guide.

Ideally, each classification would have its own final and its own set of medals. At continental Games, however, there may not be enough entrants in every class to stage separate medal races. Organisers can therefore combine classes in one event, as happened with the T12 and T13 categories in the women’s 1500m at the 2026 Asian Para Games.

A straight comparison of raw times in such a race would favour athletes from the class with the lesser impairment. Raza points are designed to make performances from different classifications comparable and to provide a medal order that accounts for those class differences.

The system converts each athlete’s finishing time into a score. Every classification has an event benchmark based on the best performances recorded in that class. An athlete’s time is assessed against the benchmark for her own classification, and that comparison produces a Raza points total.

The higher the points total, the higher the athlete is placed. As a result, the race is contested on the track, but medals in a merged-class event are settled through the points calculation.

How the points changed the 1500m medal order

Soumya’s 5:12.39 was both the quickest time in the race and the performance that produced the highest score, 621 points. She therefore secured the gold medal.

Radha’s 5:30.90 did not place her among the fastest runners by time, but it was measured against the benchmark for her classification. The resulting 421 points were second among the five athletes, earning her the silver medal.

The outcome shows why the time column cannot be read in isolation in a combined-class para athletics race. Official results for these events include both times and points, and the points column determines the final placing for medals.

In practical terms, a T12 athlete can finish behind a T13 rival in a merged race and still rank above that athlete if her result is closer to the relevant benchmark for the T12 class. Conversely, the quickest athlete will not automatically win if another competitor records a stronger points performance relative to her own classification standard.

For India, the system delivered gold for Soumya and silver for Radha in Aichi-Nagoya. Their finishes underline the central role of Raza points in ensuring that athletes in merged classifications are judged by a comparable standard rather than by the clock alone.