Kazakhstani athlete Kristina Morozova finished second in the half-marathon race walking event at the Asian Games in Japan. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Completing the competition in 1:35.25, she beat Chinese athlete Jiang Yunyan by just one second in the battle for silver. Another Kazakhstani, Elmira Kalimullina, finished sixth with a result of 1:43.21.
Competition results
September 23. Athletics. Race walking. Half-marathon. Women:
- 01🥈 2. Kristina MOROZOVA (Kazakhstan) – 1:35.25
- 026. Elmira KALIMULLINA (Kazakhstan) – 1:43.21
Eight race walking specialists took part in the event that opened the program of the fourth day of the Asian Games.
Historic achievement
Morozova's medal is the first silver won by Kazakhstani athletes in this discipline at the Asian Games. Svetlana Tolstaya finished third in the 10 km distance at the 1998 Games in Bangkok. Four years later, she won bronze in the 20 km race walk.
Among men, Sergey Korepanov won gold in the 50 km race walk at the 1994 Asian Games. Valery Borisov became champion in the 20 km event at the 2002 Games. In the medal standings of all Asian Games, Kazakhstani athletes occupy seventh place.
About the 2026 Asian Games
The grand opening of the XX Summer Asian Games took place on September 19. In the multi-sport competition with athletes from 45 countries, 460 sets of medals will be awarded. 217 among men, 204 among women, and 39 in mixed categories. Kazakhstan's national team at the 2026 Asian Games will include 558 athletes in 35 sports.
On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. The champions were cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko, as well as karateka Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. The fifth gold was added to the team's tally the day before by MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin. The sixth by his teammate in mixed martial arts, Kadyrbek Shynbayev.
After the third day of the Games, Kazakhstan occupies fourth place in the unofficial medal standings.