China closes athletics with three golds at Asian Games
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China's mixed 4x100m relay gold medalists Shi Junhao, Liu Guoyi, Chen Yujie and Chen Jinfeng (L-R) celebrate by the race clock at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, September 29, 2026. /VCG
Athletics at the 2026 Asian Games concluded on Tuesday as China added three more gold medals to its impressive campaign. China's success came in the women's hammer throw, 4x100m mixed relay and the women's 800m. Meanwhile, the Philippines' Ernst John Obiena set a new Games record of 5.91m in the men's pole vault.
In the women's hammer throw, China's Zhang Jiale set a Games record of 78.27m to win gold, with compatriot Zhao Jie taking silver at 74.83m and Japan's Joy Iris McArthur claiming bronze.
The Chinese duo faced little challenge, as no other contender in the field had a personal best beyond 71 meters.
Zhang said her focus after the Asian Games is now reaching 80 meters, a mark no women's Asian thrower has hit. "My teammate Zhao and I both want to push toward that and bring Asia closer to the world's best," she said.
China then won the 4x100m mixed relay, with Chen Jinfeng, Liu Guoyi, Shi Junhao and Chen Yujie clocking 40.78 seconds. Thailand took silver and India bronze.
It was the third gold of the Games for Chen Yujie, who had already won the women's 100m and 4x100m relay, along with a silver in the 200m.
Chen said running the anchor leg from behind was one of the more nerve-testing moments for her in the Games, but she trusted her technique.
"What I achieved at the Games is a real motivator. Now that it's done, I can already start looking ahead to the next one," she said.
In the men's pole vault, Obiena was the only competitor to clear 5.75m. After two failed attempts at 5.80m, he raised the bar to 5.91m and cleared it to break the Games record and take gold. China's Li Chenyang and Yao Jie finished second and third.
Uzbekistan's Sayfullaeva Barnokhon cleared a personal best of 1.90m to win the women's high jump. Kazakhstan's Kristina Ovchinnikova took silver and India's Pooja Singh took bronze. China's Lu Jiawen and Jin Ruoxuan finished fourth and 10th, respectively.
In the women's 800m, China's Wu Hongjiao won gold in 2:04.49, ahead of Bahrain's Nelly Korir and the Philippines' Victoria Bossong.
Running from a boxed-in position, Wu moved up early and with no one seemingly able to challenge her, cruised to the finish line.
"Everyone seemed to be waiting, so I just ran however I felt comfortable," she said, adding that nerves only crept back in the final 100 meters.
It was Wu's first Asian Games title after years of near-misses. "I figured if I beat the faster entries, that's a breakthrough. If I ran a personal best instead, that's a breakthrough too," she said.
Looking ahead, Wu said Asian middle-distance runners need to "dare to believe" that they can compete with the world's best.
In the men's 800m, Japan's Ko Ochiai set a Games record of 1:44.48 to win gold, ahead of Iran's Ali Amirian and Qatar's Abubaker Abdalla. China's Xi Xiaoheng finished fourth.
Bahrain's Birhanu Balew won the men's 5,000m in 13:30.79, ahead of Japan's Tomonori Yamaguchi and India's Gulveer Singh.
India won the women's 4x400m relay, with Bahrain second and China third. Host Japan closed out the athletics program with gold in the men's 4x400m relay, ahead of Qatar who claimed silver and India, who took bronze.
