Asian Games 2026: 1:22.587 — the time that would win the Poznań worlds and finish last in Milan
- Published
- 2026-09-24T11:23:55+00:00
- Author
- PaddleStats
Full competition results: Asian Games 2026 - Canoe Sprint
Asian Games 2026: South Korea win men's K4 gold as China lead the medal table
South Korea won the men's K4 500 m at the 2026 Asian Games in Miyoshi, clocking 1:22.587 to beat China by 0.255 seconds. China finished the opening day of canoe sprint finals at the top of the medal table with two golds and two silvers.
Four weeks earlier, the same Korean crew had finished seventeenth overall at the World Championships in Poznań. Their winning time in Miyoshi was 1.363 seconds faster than Germany's gold-medal time in Poland. It is a striking comparison, although times from separate regattas alone cannot establish how the crews measure up against one another.
Four finals, four medals for China
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| South Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Thursday brought the first four of twelve canoe sprint finals at Miyoshi Lake: the women's C1 200 m, men's K4 500 m, women's K2 500 m and men's C2 500 m. China won two titles and reached the podium in every event. Uzbekistan collected one medal of each colour.
The four finals started between 11:30 and 12:00 local time, with nine crews contesting each race. Seventeen nations are taking part in the regatta.
South Korea reverse the Hangzhou result
Three years ago in Hangzhou, China won the men's K4 500 m in 1:23.859, ahead of South Korea in 1:25.006 and Japan in 1:25.751. The same three nations returned to the podium in Miyoshi, but the top two traded places.
Gwang Hee Cho, Hyobin Kim, Sangwon Jang and Minkyu Choi took gold in 1:22.587. Cho and Jang were also members of the silver-medal crew in Hangzhou. Thursday's winning time was 2.419 seconds faster than South Korea's result at those Games.
China fielded an entirely different line-up from Hangzhou. Fengwei Liang, Shengkai Ding, Weiyang Chen and Jinwei Wang finished in 1:22.842, just 0.255 seconds behind the winners.
Japan claimed bronze again, with Masaya Tanaka, Akihiro Inoue, Ryuji Matsushiro and Yuito Sakai clocking 1:25.909. Inoue was also part of the bronze-medal crew in Hangzhou. For Nagoya-born Matsushiro, the result came close to home.
The smallest gap between consecutive finishers was in the race for fourth. Kazakhstan clocked 1:26.156 to edge Kyrgyzstan by 0.185 seconds. Singapore followed in 1:28.298, ahead of India in 1:28.982, Indonesia in 1:29.112 and Thailand in 1:30.599. Just over eight seconds separated the first and last crews.
Gold medallists return for the afternoon heats
All four South Korean gold medallists raced again that afternoon and secured direct places in A finals. Cho and Kim finished second in their men's K2 500 m heat, while Jang was third in his men's K1 500 m heat. Choi teamed up with Minju Seon to win their mixed K2 500 m heat.
Japan's medallists were also back on the water. Tanaka won his men's K2 500 m heat alongside Taishi Tanada, while Inoue and Rin Fukuda finished third in their mixed K2 500 m heat. Tanada also set the fastest time across the two men's K1 500 m heats, clocking 1:43.47.
Putting 1:22.587 into context
South Korea's time stands out when compared with the winning performance at the recent World Championships in Poznań.
| Men's K4 500 m final | Winner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 World Championships, Milan | Portugal | 1:18.93 |
| 2026 World Championships, Poznań | Germany | 1:23.95 |
| 2026 Asian Games, Miyoshi | South Korea | 1:22.587 |
No crew in any round of the men's K4 500 m in Poznań matched South Korea's time from Miyoshi. Australia's 1:23.48 in the heats was the fastest performance of those championships, still 0.893 seconds slower than Thursday's winning time.
The comparison with Milan in 2025 tells a different story. All nine crews in that world final recorded times faster than 1:22.587. Even the last-placed crew was 0.667 seconds quicker.
In Poznań, Cho, Kim, Jang and Choi finished eighth in the B final in 1:30.96, placing seventeenth overall. China finished fifteenth in 1:29.24. Both crews recorded much faster times in Miyoshi, but that does not, by itself, demonstrate a corresponding improvement in performance over four weeks.
The winning times from the past two World Championships offer another reason to treat comparisons across regattas with care.
| Event | Winning time — Milan 2025 | Winning time — Poznań 2026 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's C1 200 m | 46.09 | 44.40 | Poznań 1.69 s faster |
| Men's C2 500 m | 1:39.63 | 1:39.23 | Poznań 0.40 s faster |
| Women's K2 500 m | 1:41.34 | 1:39.54 | Poznań 1.80 s faster |
| Men's K4 500 m | 1:18.93 | 1:23.95 | Poznań 5.02 s slower |
The winning times in three of these events were faster in Poznań than in Milan. The exception was the men's K4 500 m final, held on Friday afternoon. The other three finals took place on Sunday morning.
Nor did every crew in Miyoshi improve on its Poznań result. Ten minutes after the men's K4 final, Shimeng Yu and Mengdie Yin won the women's K2 500 m in 1:45.010. The Chinese pair had taken world silver in 1:41.19, making their Asian Games winning time 3.820 seconds slower.
South Korea earned their gold by beating the crews alongside them. Their time can be compared numerically with results from other regattas, but it cannot tell us how a hypothetical race against the world finalists would unfold. Explaining the differences would also require information about conditions during the individual races.
Sherzodova takes gold by sixteen thousandths
The narrowest winning margin of the morning came in the opening final. Uzbekistan's Shohsanam Sherzodova won the women's C1 200 m in 46.597, just 0.016 seconds ahead of Changwen Shuai, who clocked 46.613. Indonesia's Herlin Aprilin Lali took bronze in 47.309.
Sherzodova's time was almost identical to her 46.58 in the world final in Poznań. That performance had placed her ninth; in Miyoshi, she won Asian Games gold.
The three paddlers who had qualified through the semifinal filled the last three places in the final. Hiva Afzali, who won the semifinal in 49.42, finished seventh, followed by Un Yong Cha and Mio Kobayashi. Afzali was 2.623 seconds behind Sherzodova.
In the women's K2 500 m, Yu and Yin finished 3.130 seconds clear of Kazakhstan's Olga Shmelyova and Tatyana Tokarnitskaya. Uzbekistan's Arina Tanatmisheva and Ekaterina Shubina took bronze. Japan's Maya Hosomi and Juri Urada did not finish.
The men's C2 500 m brought the medal session to a close. China's Shengyue Wu and Bowen Ji won in 1:40.741, ahead of Uzbekistan's Artur Guliev and Vladlen Denisov. Brothers Sergey Yemelyanov and Timofey Yemelyanov secured bronze for Kazakhstan in 1:44.972.
Uzbekistan finished the session with gold for Sherzodova, silver for Guliev and Denisov, and bronze for Tanatmisheva and Shubina. That put the team second in the medal table behind China.
Four more titles on Friday
Friday's programme features the men's K2 500 m, women's K4 500 m, men's C1 500 m and women's C2 500 m finals. Saturday brings the men's and women's K1 500 m, along with the mixed C2 500 m and mixed K2 500 m.
Thursday's heats decided some of the places in Saturday's finals. In the men's K1 500 m, the four fastest times across the two heats were separated by 0.31 seconds: Tanada clocked 1:43.47, Shakhriyor Makhkamov 1:43.61, Ali Aghamirzaeijenaghard 1:43.64 and Rodion Tuigunov 1:43.78. Jang, one of South Korea's K4 gold medallists, qualified directly for the A final in 1:49.26.
The mixed K2 500 m heats also produced closely matched times. Chenhao Li and Luxi Zhang won the first heat in 1:40.78, while Choi and Seon won the second in 1:40.95. Kazakhstan clocked 1:40.99 and Japan 1:41.20, leaving 0.42 seconds between the four quickest performances across the two races.
The women's K1 500 m and mixed C2 500 m will be raced as straight finals on Saturday, with eight paddlers and nine crews respectively.
The full schedule and live results are available on the 2026 Asian Games canoe sprint page.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the men's K4 500 m at the 2026 Asian Games?
South Korea's Gwang Hee Cho, Hyobin Kim, Sangwon Jang and Minkyu Choi won in 1:22.587, ahead of China in 1:22.842 and Japan in 1:25.909.
Who won the women's C1 200 m?
Shohsanam Sherzodova of Uzbekistan won in 46.597, beating Changwen Shuai by sixteen thousandths of a second.
Which nation leads the canoe sprint medal table after the first day of finals?
China lead with two golds and two silvers. Uzbekistan are second with one medal of each colour.
Was South Korea's K4 time faster than the winning time at the 2026 World Championships?
Yes. South Korea clocked 1:22.587 in Miyoshi, while Germany won the world title in Poznań in 1:23.95 — a difference of 1.363 seconds. The results came at separate regattas, however, so they do not establish which crew would win a direct contest.
How did hosts Japan perform?
Japan took bronze in the men's K4 500 m, while their women's K2 crew did not finish the final. In the afternoon heats, Taishi Tanada set the fastest men's K1 500 m time and won his men's K2 500 m heat alongside Masaya Tanaka. Eight medal events remain.
How close was the men's K4 500 m podium?
China finished 0.255 seconds behind South Korea. Japan were 3.322 seconds behind the winners.
South Korea's four K4 champions still have more finals to race. Gwang Hee Cho and Hyobin Kim will contest the men's K2 500 m on Friday. Sangwon Jang returns for the men's K1 500 m on Saturday, while Minkyu Choi and Minju Seon will race in the mixed K2 500 m final.