NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China added three more golds in the women's hammer throw, 4x100m mixed relay and women's 800m as athletics concluded Tuesday at the 2026 Asian Games, while the Philippines' Ernest John Obiena set a men's pole vault Games record of 5.91m.
In the women's hammer throw, China's Zhang Jiale set a Games record of 78.27m to win gold, with compatriot Zhao Jie taking silver at 74.83m and Japan's Joy Iris McArthur claiming bronze.
The Chinese duo faced little challenge, as no other contender in the field had a personal best beyond 71 meters.
Zhang said her focus after the Asian Games is now reaching 80 meters, a mark no women's Asian thrower has hit. "My teammate Zhao and I both want to push toward that and bring Asia closer to the world's best," she said.
China then won the 4x100m mixed relay, with Chen Jinfeng, Liu Guoyi, Shi Junhao and Chen Yujie clocking 40.78 seconds. Thailand took silver and India bronze.
It was the third gold of the Games for Chen, who had already won the women's 100m and the women's 4x100m relay, along with a silver in the 200m.
Chen said running the anchor leg from behind was one of the more nerve-testing moments of her Games, but she trusted her technique.
"I've raced the Thai anchor before, so I know her rhythm well. As long as I could beat her over the final 100 meters, I knew we'd be fine," she said.
"What I achieved at the Games is a real motivator. Now that it's done, I can already start looking ahead to the next one," she said.
In the men's pole vault, Obiena was the only competitor to clear 5.75m. After two failed attempts at 5.80m, he raised the bar to 5.91m and cleared it to break the Games record and take gold. China's Li Chenyang and Yao Jie finished second and third.
Uzbekistan's Sayfullaeva Barnokhon cleared a personal best of 1.90m to win the women's high jump. Kazakhstan's Kristina Ovchinnikova took silver and India's Pooja took bronze, while China's Lu Jiawen and Jin Ruoxuan finished fourth and 10th, respectively.
In the women's 800m, China's Wu Hongjiao won gold in 2:04.49, ahead of Bahrain's Nelly Korir and the Philippines' Victoria Bossong.
Running from a boxed-in position, Wu moved up early and, with no one willing to push the pace, settled into a rhythm that suited her.
"Everyone seemed to be waiting, so I just ran however felt comfortable," she said, adding that nerves only crept back in the final 100 meters.
It was Wu's first Asian Games title after years of near-misses. "I figured if I beat the faster entries, that's a breakthrough. If I ran a personal best instead, that's a breakthrough too," she said.
Looking ahead, Wu said Asian middle-distance runners need to "dare to believe" they can compete with the world's best.
In the men's 800m, Japan's Ko Ochiai set a Games record of 1:44.48 to win gold, ahead of Iran's Ali Amirian and Qatar's Abubaker Abdalla. China's Xi Xiaoheng finished fourth.
Bahrain's Birhanu Balew won the men's 5,000m in 13:30.79, ahead of Japan's Tomonori Yamaguchi and India's Gulveer Singh.
India won the women's 4x400m relay, with Bahrain second and China third. Host Japan closed out the athletics program with gold in the men's 4x400m relay, ahead of Qatar for silver and India for bronze. ■
