Kazakh weightlifter Lyubov Kovalchuk came up just short of the podium at the Asian Games in Japan in the over-86 kg category, bringing the country's weightlifting campaign at the tournament to a close, infohub.kz reports.

In the first lift, the Kazakh athlete cleared 115 kg on her second attempt, but failed to lift 120 kg. As a result, Kovalchuk was edged in the snatch by China's Li Wenwen, Park Hye-jeong of South Korea and Qatar's Uysal Ihlif.

That order remained unchanged after the second lift. The medal trio all failed their third attempts, while Kovalchuk used hers. But after clean and jerking 152 kg, she remained fourth.

ASIAN GAMES 2026
September 29. Weightlifting. Women. Over 86 kg

🥇 1. LI WENWEN (China) – 310 (140+170)
🥈 2. PARK HYE-JEONG (South Korea) – 300 (133+167)
🥉 3. Uysal IHLIF (Qatar) – 273 (120+153)
4. Lyubov KOVALCHUK (Kazakhstan) – 267 (115+152)

Kazakh weightlifters rank sixth in medals in the history of the Asian Games. Gold medals have been won in various 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).

At the concluding weightlifting tournament of the 2026 Asian Games, Kazakhstan's team finished without a gold. Silver medals were won by Ayanat Zhumagali (77 kg), Aleksey Churkin (85 kg) and Nurgisa Adiletuly (95 kg).

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 comprises 558 athletes in 35 sports.

On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. Cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Aleksey Lutsenko became champions, along with karateka Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. The team's fifth gold was added by MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin. The 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 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 was fifth in the unofficial medal standings.