Kazakhstan added five bronze medals to its tally on the sixth day of the Asian Games in Japan, with Kazakh athletes still holding fourth place in the unofficial medal standings, infohub.kz reports.
The latest day of the continental sporting event proved less successful for the Kazakh team. After a strong start, five bronze medals did not make a big impression. Still, they had to be earned: credit goes to today's medalists, who reached the podium amid fierce competition.
The first bronze came from the women's kayak four over 500 meters. Olga Shmeleva, Stella Sukhanova, Tatyana Tokarnitskaya and Evelina Kostenko stepped onto the podium.
Islam Satpayev won bronze in the 50-meter small-bore rifle three-position event. Fencers Irina Bakaldina, Sofia Nikolaychuk, Vladislava Andreeva and Darya Samodelkina took third place in the women's team epee tournament.
Alina Chistyakova earned bronze in the heptathlon. Polina Ivanova, supporting her track and field teammate, finished third in the pole vault.
Gymnast Milad Karimi came up just short of his second medal at the 2026 Asian Games. In the horizontal bar final, he placed fourth.
Weightlifter Yekaterina Alyakina finished fifth in the 57 kg category.
Kazakh swimmers Sofya Spodarenko and Aibat Myrzamuratov competed in today's finals. Spodarenko placed sixth in the 50-meter butterfly, while Myrzamuratov finished tenth in the 50-meter breaststroke.
The boxing team suffered two painful losses. After disappointing defeats, three-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay (up to 54 kg) and Orazbek Asylkulov (up to 60 kg) ended their campaigns.
Despite a hat-trick from Viktoria Lobanova, the women's field hockey team let victory slip in their match against Bangladesh, the tournament underdogs. The women's handball team lost to Japan, and the men's handball team fell to South Korea.
After the sixth day of the Asian Games, the top three leaders in the unofficial medal standings took shape. Capitalizing on Kazakhstan's "bronze" day, South Korea surged ahead and now leads our athletes by five gold medals. Uzbekistan is closing in from below, trailing by just one gold.
The XX Summer Asian Games in Japan officially opened on September 19. The multi-sport event, featuring athletes from 45 countries, will award 460 sets of medals: 217 for men, 204 for women and 39 in mixed events. Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games will include 558 athletes competing in 35 sports.