Kazakhstani track and field athletes Adelina and Vyacheslav Zems started their 400-meter hurdles finals at the 2026 Asian Games just 20 minutes apart. The evening unfolded differently for the married couple: Adelina became a silver medalist, while Vyacheslav finished eighth, according to infohub.kz.

Adelina Zems came off the final bend in fourth place, but a powerful finishing kick nearly caught Mariam Karim of the United Arab Emirates, who won with a Games record. The Kazakhstani athlete ultimately finished second, setting a personal best. This silver was Kazakhstan's 13th at the 2026 Asian Games.

ASIAN GAMES 2026
September 28. 400-meter hurdles. Women
🥇 1. Mariam KARIM (UAE) – 54.31 (Asian Games record)
🥈 2. Adelina ZEMS (Kazakhstan) – 54.58
🥉 3. Vithya RAMRAJ (India) – 54.75

Kazakhstani Nataliya Torshina once dominated this event at the Asian Games. She won gold in Bangkok 1998 and Busan 2002, and took bronze in Hiroshima 1994.

ASIAN GAMES 2026
September 28. 400-meter hurdles. Men
🥇 1. Bassem HEMEIDA (Qatar) – 47.82
🥈 2. Taiji GOTO (Japan) – 47.93
🥉 3. CHUNGWEI LIN (Chinese Taipei) – 48.74
…8. Vyacheslav ZEMS (Kazakhstan) – 51.17

Vyacheslav Zems took to the start line while his wife was still receiving congratulations for her first career Asian Games silver. He tried hard but finished last. Even if he had run a personal best (50.47), he would still have placed eighth — the competition was simply too strong.

The Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will close on October 4. Athletes from 45 countries are competing for 460 medal sets. 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 karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofia Berultseva. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added a fifth gold, and his mixed martial arts teammate Kadyrbek Shynbayev earned the sixth. 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 went to Kazakhstan's epee fencing team.

The gold in race walking won by Yasmina Toksanbayeva was awarded to China after a protest regarding the Kazakhstani athlete's footwear was upheld.

After eight days of the Games, Kazakhstan was in fifth place in the unofficial medal standings.