NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China continued its strong athletics campaign at the 2026 Asian Games on Monday, winning four gold medals, including both 4x100m relay titles, while the UAE's Mariam Kareem and Japan's Kazuto Iizawa set Asian Games records.
Kareem, 18, won the women's 400m hurdles in 54.31 seconds, lowering the previous Games record of 54.45 set by Bahrain's Oluwakemi Adekoya at Hangzhou in 2023.
Kazakhstan's Adelina Zems and India's Vithya Ramraj both set personal bests to take silver and bronze, respectively, while China's Kong Yingying finished fourth in 55.78.
Qatar's Bassem Hemeida won the men's 400m hurdles in 47.82, followed by Japan's Taiju Goto and Chinese Taipei's Lin Chung-wei.
Iizawa also set an Asian Games record, clocking 3:36.35 to win the men's 1,500m. India's Gulveer Singh took silver and Japan's Nagiya Mori bronze, while China's Liu Dezhu finished fourth.
Iizawa became the first Japanese man in 40 years to win the Asian Games 1,500m title.
"What was asked of me was a gold medal, and I am glad I delivered it," Iizawa said. "The clock on the Japanese men's 1,500m had been stopped for a very long time, and I think I have started it moving again, little by little. I do not want to stop at this. I want to go higher."
In the women's discus, China's Feng Bin defended her title with a final-round throw of 63.83 meters. Compatriot Jiang Zhichao took silver with a season-best 62.25m, while Thailand's Subenrat Insaeng also set a season best with 61.43m for bronze.
Despite winning gold, the 32-year-old Feng said she had mixed feelings about her performance.
"I reached my goal in ranking, but I missed my target mark by a little," said Feng, who had hoped to throw 65 or 66 meters.
Injuries had prevented Feng from training consistently for two years, and by early this year she doubted whether she could reach 70 meters. Her outlook changed after throwing 67 meters at the Diamond League final in Brussels.
"Even with so little systematic training, I could get this result, so I don't think the gap to the top is big," she said. "If I can prepare well this winter, 70 meters is not out of reach."
Feng is now targeting gold at next year's World Championships in Beijing and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"I will definitely go to the Los Angeles Olympics, and I'm going for gold," she said. "Difficulties won't knock me down. They only make me stronger."
Shi Yuhao delivered China's second athletics gold of the night at Mizuho Stadium, winning the men's long jump with a season-best 8.17m on his second attempt. Hangzhou Asian Games champion Murali Sreeshankar of India took silver with 8.07m, while Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov finished third with 8.06m.
Shi, 28, said injuries and rehabilitation had dominated much of the decade since his breakthrough at 18.
"Injuries, time off and treatment took up most of the last 10 years," he said. "Even now, my foot still hurt this morning after yesterday's qualifying."
The setbacks, Shi said, had taught him patience.
"Early fame isn't always a good thing. Now I have to find my form again step by step," he said.
China then swept the men's and women's 4x100m relay titles.
Liang Xiaojing, Liu Guoyi, Liu Xiajun and Chen Yujie combined to win the women's relay in 42.96. Thailand took silver in 43.51, while Japan was just 0.01 behind in third.
It was a third medal of the Games for the 17-year-old Chen, who had already won the women's 100m and taken silver in the 200m.
China's Chen Jinfeng, Zeng Keli, Wang Shengjie and Xie Zhenye won the men's 4x100m relay in 38.17. Chinese Taipei took silver in 38.32 and South Korea bronze in 38.43.
In other finals Monday, Japan's Ryuji Miura won the men's 3,000m steeplechase, Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga claimed the men's javelin title and Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi won the women's 5,000m.
The first round of the mixed 4x100m relay was also held Monday, with China winning its heat to advance to the final. ■
