Kazakhstani track and field athlete Kristina Morozova finished second in the women's half marathon race walking event at the Asian Games in Japan, infohub.kz reports.
The 25-year-old athlete completed the distance in 1:35.25, beating China's Jiang Yunyan by just one second in the battle for silver. Another Kazakhstani, Elmira Kalimullina, finished sixth with a time of 1:43.21.
ASIAN GAMES 2026
September 23. Athletics. Race walking. Half marathon. Women
🥇 1. YANG LIUJING (China) – 1:33.40
🥈 2. Kristina MOROZOVA (Kazakhstan) – 1:35.25
🥉 3. JIANG YUNYAN (China) – 1:35.26
…6. Elmira KALIMULLINA (Kazakhstan) – 1:43.21
Eight race walking specialists competed in the event that opened the program of the fourth day of the Asian Games.
Morozova's medal is the first silver won by Kazakhstani women in this discipline at the Asian Games. Svetlana Tolstaya finished third in the 10 km event at the 1998 Games in Bangkok. Four years later, she won bronze in the 20 km walk.
In the men's competition, Sergey Korepanov won gold in the 50 km walk at the 1994 Asian Games. Valery Borisov became champion in the 20 km event at the 2002 Games. In the all-time Asian Games medal standings, Kazakhstani track and field athletes rank seventh.
The official opening ceremony of the XX Summer Asian Games took place on September 19. The multi-sport event, featuring athletes from 45 countries, will award 460 sets of medals: 217 in men's events, 204 in women's events, and 39 in mixed events. Kazakhstan's national team at the 2026 Asian Games will include 558 athletes competing in 35 sports.
On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstani athletes won four gold medals. Cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko, as well as karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva, became champions. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added the fifth gold to the team's tally the day before. The sixth was his teammate in mixed martial arts, Kadyrbek Shynbaev.
After the third day of the Games, Kazakhstan ranks fourth in the unofficial medal standings.