Kazakhstani weightlifter Aiganym Zhanbolat finished seventh in the up-to-86-kilogram weight class at the Asian Games in Japan, infohub.kz reports.

The athlete, who previously competed in the up-to-77-kilogram category, moved up to a heavier weight only last spring. She immediately won the Kazakh national championship, setting national records along the way.

On the international stage, however, Zhanbolat's performance was far more modest. She snatched 102 kilograms and clean-and-jerked 130 kilograms for a total of 232 kilograms. That was enough only for seventh place, next to last.

Had she matched her May result, she would have finished fifth with 256 (115+141). Her deficit to Turkmenistan's Anamjan Rustamova, who took fourth place at the Asian Games, would have been just 2 kilograms.

The gold went to reigning world champion Yang Wu. The Chinese lifter finished 1 kilogram ahead of Alina Marushchak, the 2021 world and European champion competing for Ukraine at the time. In 2023, the native of Khmelnytskyi Oblast was disqualified for doping. After serving her suspension, Marushchak competes under the flag of Bahrain.

ASIAN GAMES 2026
September 29. Weightlifting. Women. Up to 86 kg
🥇 1. YANG WU (China) – 273 (124+149)
🥈 2. Alina MARUSHCHAK (Bahrain) – 272 (124+148)
🥉 3. Mahsa BEHESHTI (Iran) – 259 (113+146)
…7. Aiganym ZHANBOLAT (Kazakhstan) – 232 (102+130)

Kazakhstani weightlifters rank sixth in medals in the history of the Asian Games. Gold medals have been won over the years by Andrey Makarov (1994, 1998), Ilya Ilyin (2006, 2010), Sergey Kopytov (1994), Vyacheslav Nyu (1994), Bakhyt Akhmetov (2002), Sergey Filimonov (2002), Vyacheslav Yershov (2006), Maya Maneza (2010), Svetlana Podobedova (2010) and Margarita Yeliseyeva (2014).

The 20th Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will close on October 4. Athletes from 45 countries are competing for 460 sets of medals. Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games includes 558 athletes in 35 sports.

On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. Cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko became champions, as did karateka Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added a fifth gold to the team's tally. A sixth came from his mixed martial arts teammate Kadyrbek Shynbayev. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold medal was won on September 24 by rowers Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin in the men's coxless pairs. The ninth gold medal was claimed by Kazakhstan's epee fencing team.

After nine days of the Games, Kazakhstan stood fifth in the unofficial medal standings.