Athletics at the Asian Games

Athletics

2026LatestAichi-Nagoya 2026: 50 events; China led with 17 golds (39 medals)

Athletics has been held at every Asian Games since the first, New Delhi 1951; India has won 307 athletics medals across the 20 Games.

Next: Doha 2030
Most golds (nation): China, 216; then Japan, 206
India: 307 medals: 86 gold, 111 silver, 110 bronze; third in the all-time table
India at 2026: 24 medals: 1 gold (women's 4 × 400 m relay), 9 silver, 14 bronze
Cycle: Every four years

India at the Asian Games

2026Gold: 1 · Silver: 9 · Bronze: 14 · Total: 24Host: Aichi-Nagoya
2022Gold: 6 · Silver: 14 · Bronze: 9 · Total: 29Host: Hangzhou (held 2023)
2018Gold: 8 · Silver: 9 · Bronze: 3 · Total: 20Host: Jakarta-Palembang
2014Gold: 2 · Silver: 3 · Bronze: 8 · Total: 13Host: Incheon
2010Gold: 5 · Silver: 2 · Bronze: 5 · Total: 12Host: Guangzhou
2006Gold: 1 · Silver: 4 · Bronze: 4 · Total: 9Host: Doha
2002Gold: 7 · Silver: 6 · Bronze: 4 · Total: 17Host: Busan
1998Gold: 2 · Silver: 6 · Bronze: 7 · Total: 15Host: Bangkok
1994Gold: 0 · Silver: 1 · Bronze: 2 · Total: 3Host: Hiroshima
1990Gold: 0 · Silver: 4 · Bronze: 2 · Total: 6Host: Beijing
1986Gold: 4 · Silver: 2 · Bronze: 3 · Total: 9Host: Seoul
1982Gold: 4 · Silver: 9 · Bronze: 8 · Total: 21Host: New Delhi
1978Gold: 8 · Silver: 7 · Bronze: 3 · Total: 18Host: Bangkok
1974Gold: 4 · Silver: 7 · Bronze: 4 · Total: 15Host: Tehran
1970Gold: 4 · Silver: 5 · Bronze: 5 · Total: 14Host: Bangkok
1966Gold: 5 · Silver: 1 · Bronze: 5 · Total: 11Host: Bangkok
1962Gold: 5 · Silver: 5 · Bronze: 4 · Total: 14Host: Jakarta
1958Gold: 5 · Silver: 2 · Bronze: 2 · Total: 9Host: Tokyo
1954Gold: 5 · Silver: 3 · Bronze: 6 · Total: 14Host: Manila
1951Gold: 10 · Silver: 12 · Bronze: 12 · Total: 34Host: New Delhi

More about this tournament

Aichi-Nagoya 2026 champions

The holders until Doha 2030.

Group	Event	Champion	Nation
Men	100 m	Puripol Boonson	Thailand
Men	200 m	Puripol Boonson	Thailand
Men	400 m	Joshua Atkinson	Thailand
Men	800 m	Ko Ochiai	Japan
Men	1500 m	Kazuto Iizawa	Japan
Men	5000 m	Birhanu Balew	Bahrain
Men	10,000 m	Birhanu Balew	Bahrain
Men	110 m hurdles	Chen Yuanjiang	China
Men	400 m hurdles	Bassem Hemeida	Qatar
Men	3000 m steeplechase	Ryuji Miura	Japan
Men	4 × 100 m relay	China	China
Men	4 × 400 m relay	Japan	Japan
Men	Marathon	Ichitaka Yamashita	Japan
Men	Half marathon race walk	Shi Shengji	China
Men	Marathon race walk	Hayato Katsuki	Japan
Men	High jump	Fu Chao-hsuan	Chinese Taipei
Men	Pole vault	EJ Obiena	Philippines
Men	Long jump	Shi Yuhao	China
Men	Triple jump	Su Wen	China
Men	Shot put	Mohammadreza Tayebise	Iran
Men	Discus throw	Abuduaini Tuergong	China
Men	Hammer throw	Sukhrob Khodjaev	Uzbekistan
Men	Javelin throw	Rumesh Pathirage	Sri Lanka
Men	Decathlon	Yuma Maruyama	Japan
Women	100 m	Chen Yujie	China
Women	200 m	Shanti Pereira	Singapore
Women	400 m	Salwa Eid Naser	Bahrain
Women	800 m	Wu Hongjiao	China
Women	1500 m	Nelly Korir	Bahrain
Women	5000 m	Winfred Yavi	Bahrain
Women	10,000 m	Winfred Yavi	Bahrain
Women	100 m hurdles	Mako Fukube	Japan
Women	400 m hurdles	Mariam Kareem	United Arab Emirates
Women	3000 m steeplechase	Winfred Yavi	Bahrain
Women	4 × 100 m relay	China	China
Women	4 × 400 m relay	India	India
Women	Marathon	Shitaye Habte	Bahrain
Women	Half marathon race walk	Yang Liujing	China
Women	Marathon race walk	Danzeng Quzong	China
Women	High jump	Barnokhon Sayfullaeva	Uzbekistan
Women	Pole vault	Misaki Morota	Japan
Women	Long jump	Huang Yingying	China
Women	Triple jump	Sharifa Davronova	Uzbekistan
Women	Shot put	Song Jiayuan	China
Women	Discus throw	Feng Bin	China
Women	Hammer throw	Zhang Jiale	China
Women	Javelin throw	Yan Ziyi	China
Women	Heptathlon	Yuri Tanaka	Japan
Mixed	4 × 100 m relay	China	China
Mixed	4 × 400 m relay	Bahrain	Bahrain

Medal tables

All Games, 1951 to 2026 (top 10 of 37 nations)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	216	193	131	540
2	Japan	206	240	189	635
3	India	86	111	110	307
4	Bahrain	52	21	25	98
5	South Korea	34	37	63	134
6	Qatar	31	23	24	78
7	Kazakhstan	23	27	28	78
8	Saudi Arabia	19	7	11	37
9	Uzbekistan	16	19	16	51
10	Thailand	16	18	23	57

Aichi-Nagoya 2026 (top 8 of 18 nations with a medal)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	17	14	8	39
2	Japan	10	12	10	32
3	Bahrain	9	2	2	13
4	Thailand	3	2	1	6
5	Uzbekistan	3	0	1	4
6	India	1	9	14	24
7	Iran	1	2	1	4
8	Qatar	1	1	2	4

Events by Games

Games	Events	Games	Events
1951	33	1990	43
1954	30	1994	43
1958	31	1998	45
1962	32	2002	45
1966	34	2006	45
1970	35	2010	47
1974	35	2014	47
1978	39	2018	48
1982	40	2022	48
1986	42	2026	50

At Aichi-Nagoya 2026 the race walks were a half marathon and a marathon for men and women, with mixed 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relays.

History

How it began

Athletics was part of the first Asian Games at New Delhi in 1951, where India won 34 medals, 10 of them gold.

Champions by era

Japan won the most golds at every Games from 1951 to 1974, and again in 1982; China, whose first medals came in 1974, has won the most at every other Games since 1978 and leads the all-time golds (216 to Japan's 206). Bahrain, with its first medals in 1982, has been second for golds at five of the last six Games.

India's story

India's best Games for golds were the first, 1951 (10); its most medals came at Hangzhou 2022 (29). India won no athletics gold in 1990 or 1994.

Firsts and facts

First Games: New Delhi 1951, 33 events.
India's best haul: 29 medals at Hangzhou 2022.
At Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Winfred Yavi (Bahrain) won three golds: 5000 m, 10,000 m and steeplechase.