Zhang Jiale at the Asian Games (© Getty Images)
Zhang Jiale produced the standout performance on the final day of athletics action at the Asian Games in Nagoya, winning the women’s hammer with a Games record of 78.27m.
The Chinese thrower entered the competition having twice bettered the official Asian record in recent weeks, with marks of 78.64m and 79.62m awaiting ratification, while compatriot Zhao Jie held the ratified continental record of 78.22m set earlier this year.
Their rivalry once again took centre stage on a rain-affected evening at Paloma Mizuho Stadium.
Zhao held a commanding advantage in their overall head-to-head record, but Zhang had enjoyed the upper hand more recently, beating her compatriot seven times this season. She did so again when it mattered most.
Zhang took command of the competition before improving to 78.27m in the fourth round, breaking the Games record and securing gold. Zhao managed 74.83m for silver, while Japan’s Joy McArthur delighted the home crowd with 68.42m for bronze.
Winfred Yavi, meanwhile, ended the Games as one of its most successful athletes after completing a remarkable distance treble.
Having already won the 10,000m and 3000m steeplechase, the Bahraini added the women’s 5000m title in 15:10.18.
She had to work hard for her third gold, with Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka challenging all the way to the line before finishing second in 15:11.65.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage also ended his season on a high by adding the Asian Games javelin title to an impressive list of victories in 2026.
Apart from a second-place finish in Rabat, Pathirage won every competition he contested this year, including the Commonwealth Games, Diamond League Final and the Ultimate Championship.
His preparations for Nagoya had been disrupted when his specialist javelins were damaged during air travel following the competition in Budapest. Using a new javelin, he took time to find his rhythm in the final before throwing 88.33m in the fourth round and then improving to 88.55m with his final attempt.
With Neeraj Chopra absent through injury, India’s Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav took silver and bronze with 85.72m and 84.35m respectively. Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem finished fourth with 80.29m.
Another of the standout performances came from Mariam Kareem in the women’s 400m hurdles. The 18-year-old from the United Arab Emirates, who won the Asian U18 title last year and the Asian U20 crown earlier this season, completed her campaign with a Games record of 54.31.
Her performance also improved the Asian U20 record and moved her to second on the world U20 all-time list behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver in 54.58, while India’s Vithya Ramraj earned bronze in 54.75, breaking a 42-year-old national record.
The men’s 400m hurdles also produced a high-quality contest. Qatar’s Bassem Al Hemeida upgraded his Hangzhou silver to gold with 47.82, while Japan’s 17-year-old Taiju Goto clocked a personal best of 47.93 for silver. Goto’s performance improved his own Asian U20 record and is also a world U18 best.
Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines successfully defended his pole vault title, improving his own Games record by one centimetre to 5.91m. China’s Yao Jie and Li Chenyang both cleared 5.70m to take the other two places on the podium.
Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew also successfully defended his 5000m title, winning in 13:30.79 ahead of Japan’s Tomonori Yamaguchi, who clocked 13:31.43, and India’s Gulveer Singh in 13:32.75.
Balew had already retained his 10,000m title earlier in the Games. Singh, meanwhile, ended his campaign with three individual medals, having also taken silver in the 1500m and 10,000m.
Japan enjoyed further success in the men’s middle-distance and steeplechase events. World Championships finalist Ryuji Miura won the 3000m steeplechase in a Games record of 8:17.36, narrowly beating compatriot Ryoma Aoki in 8:17.60.
Kazuto Iizawa had earlier won the 1500m in another Games record, clocking 3:36.35 to edge Singh, who ran 3:36.72. Ko Ochiai then added the 800m title on the final day, front-running to victory in 1:44.48, also a Games record.
China’s Shi Yuhao won the men’s long jump with 8.17m. India’s Murali Sreeshankar was forced to stop competing because of an ankle injury but his second-round leap of 8.07m was enough for a second successive Asian Games silver. Uzbekistan’s Anvar Anvarov took bronze with 8.06m.
China also secured victories through Feng Bin in the women’s discus with 63.83m and Wu Hongjiao in the women’s 800m in 2:04.49.
India claimed its only gold medal of the athletics programme in the women’s 4x400m relay (3:29.69), giving India a seventh Asian Games title in the event. Japan took the men’s title in 3:00.75. The result brought the athletics programme at the 20th Asian Games to a close.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for World Athletics
