The XX Summer Asian Games have concluded in Japan. Kazakhstan's national team won 84 medals — 12 gold, 24 silver and 48 bronze — and took eighth place in the overall standings among 46 participating countries. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
At the 2023 Games in Hangzhou, Kazakhstan finished 11th. Thus, compared with the previous Asian Games, the team moved up three positions and increased its number of gold medals. At the same time, Kazakhstan achieved a number of historic results in Olympic disciplines at the current Games.
Boxing: victory after a 12-year break
One of the main outcomes was the victory of Kazakh boxers after a 12-year break. The last time before that the team had won Asian Games gold was in 2014; at the two previous Asian Games the team had no gold medals. In Japan, Torekhan Sabyrkhan became champion in the up to 70 kg weight category and team captain Aibek Oralbay in the over 90 kg category.
Fencing: historic gold
The men's epee fencing team won a historic Asian Games gold. In the final of the Asian Games, Kazakhstan's men's epee fencing team defeated South Korea 43:42. The opposing team included Park Sang-young, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion in individual epee. This success became part of a historic season: the team won the Asian Championship, became world champion for the first time, and then won at the Asian Games. Previously, no team had managed to achieve such a result in a single season.
Rowing and taekwondo
Kazakhstan's first-ever Asian Games gold in rowing was won by Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin. They won in the men's coxless pair.
The country's first-ever Asian Games gold in taekwondo was brought by Tamirlan Tleules, who won the competition in the up to 58 kg weight category.
Cycling: Lutsenko and Sultanova
A historic result was set by Alexey Lutsenko: the Kazakh cyclist brought his number of Summer Asian Games gold medals to six and became the country's most decorated representative by number of victories.
Rinata Sultanova became the first in the history of Kazakh women's cycling to win gold in the individual race.
Karate and mixed martial arts
Two gold medals in karate were won by Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. For Berultseva, this victory was her second at the Asian Games.
In the mixed martial arts tournament, which debuted at the Games, Kazakhstan immediately entered the ranks of leaders: Yerkingali Burkutalin and Kadyrbek Shynbayev became champions, and Sanzhar Adilov won bronze.
Judo: four individual finals
The judo team reached four individual finals for the first time. Yeldos Smetov, Abiba Abuzhakynova, Adilet Almat and Azhar Askhat became silver medalists, losing to representatives of Japan. The team won another silver medal in the mixed tournament. In all five final matches, Kazakhstan's opponent was the Japanese team.
Artistic gymnastics and wrestling
In artistic gymnastics, Milad Karimi won silver in the floor exercise. Kazakhstan returned to the Asian Games podium in this discipline for the first time in 32 years.
Kazakh wrestlers also showed positive dynamics. In freestyle wrestling, the team won three bronze medals after having no awards at the 2023 Asian Games. The women's team also improved its result: the athletes have one silver and two bronzes, whereas in 2023 one silver medal was won. Wrestling continues to make a steady contribution to Kazakhstan's medal tally, and the increase in the number of bronze awards confirms the athletes' competitiveness at the Asian level.
Ministry: an analysis will be conducted
As the ministry noted, before the Games sports federations assumed commitments regarding the results of the national teams' performances.
Based on the results of the Asian Games, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports will conduct a thorough analysis of their fulfillment, assess the dynamics compared with previous international competitions and the factors that influenced the results.
"If the analysis shows that the existing training system in a particular sport does not produce the expected results, appropriate decisions will be made, up to a complete overhaul of approaches in individual federations. It is also planned to consider strengthening the work of responsible organizations on the international stage," the ministry noted.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Kazakhstan won three silvers and four bronzes at the finish.
The XX Summer Asian Games in Japan officially opened on September 19 and will end on October 4. In the multi-sport competitions involving athletes from 45 countries, 460 sets of awards were contested. 217 among men, 204 among women and 39 in mixed categories. Kazakhstan's national team at the 2026 Asian Games included 558 athletes in 35 sports.