Beijing, China, October 6, 2026: China has quickly turned its attention to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 after a dominating display at the 20thAsian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, Xinhua News reports.
China topped the medal table for the 12th consecutive Asian Games by winning 169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze medals for a total of 341 medals – a record gold medal haul for China at an Asian Games held outside China.
Host nation Japan was far behind in second place with 83-95-91 (261), followed by Korea in third with 39-43-68 (150).
There is no time to waste, though, with the next Olympic Games just two years away, according to Zhang Xin, secretary-general of the Chinese delegation, in a statement.
Zhang said China's leading position in Asian sport was further consolidated. The delegation competed in 369 events across 38 sports and 59 disciplines, winning gold in 38 of those disciplines and medals in 47.
The quality of China's results was also notable, Zhang said, with Chinese athletes breaking five world records, 11 Asian records and 22 Games records in sports with recognized records, including shooting, archery, athletics, swimming, weightlifting and track cycling.
"Winning performances in the women's javelin and hammer throw matched the gold-medal standards set at the Paris Olympics, while China's men's 200m freestyle, men's 4x100m medley relay and women's 200m individual medley all produced the world's best times so far this year," the statement said.
Zhang stated that a new generation of Chinese athletes also emerged at the Asian Games. Of the delegation's 815 athletes, 548, or around two-thirds, were competing at their first Asian Games.
"17-year-old Chen Yujie became Asia's youngest women's 100m champion, while 18-year-old Yan Ziyi won javelin gold with a single throw. 14-year-old Yu Zidi claimed three swimming golds, each breaking an Asian or Games record, and 19-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo equaled the Games record for individual gold medals at a single edition with seven swimming titles," he said.
Looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics, Zhang said the Nagoya Games had served its purpose.
"At this Asian Games, we have achieved our goals of testing our team, discovering new talent, identifying problems and conducting comprehensive training, further strengthening our confidence in achieving outstanding results at the Los Angeles Olympics," he said.
"After the Nagoya Asian Games, we will immediately shift to preparations for the Los Angeles Olympics, accelerate efforts to address our weaknesses, comprehensively improve our competitive level and go all out to meet the challenge of the Los Angeles Olympics," Zhang added.