Asian Games 2026 canoe sprint medal table: China take 8 of 12 golds, Makhkamov wins the final-day K1
- Published
- 2026-09-27T08:54:15+00:00
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- PaddleStats
Full competition results: Asian Games 2026 - Canoe Sprint
China finished the canoe sprint regatta at the 2026 Asian Games with eight gold medals from twelve events, winning three of the four finals on the last day at Miyoshi Lake near Nagoya. Uzbekistan's Shakhriyor Makhkamov claimed the remaining title in the men's K1 500 m, securing his country's second canoe sprint gold of the Games.
On Saturday 26 September, Nan Wang won the women's K1 500 m, while Chinese crews took both mixed titles over 500 m, in the C2 and K2. The finals took place between 11:30 and noon in Japan, or 04:30–05:00 CEST. Across four days, the regatta featured 35 races and a total of 231 starts by competing crews. Nine of the 17 participating nations won medals.
Medal table: China leads with eight golds
China topped the medal table with four times as many gold medals as either Uzbekistan or South Korea, which won two titles apiece. Uzbekistan took second place on silver medals, with six to South Korea's two, and finished with nine medals overall to South Korea's four.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | South Korea | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | Japan | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Indonesia, Iran, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam won one bronze medal each.
China entered ten of the twelve events and reached the podium in all ten. Its two silver medals came in the men's K4 500 m, where South Korea won by 0.255 s, and the women's C1 200 m, where Uzbekistan's Shohsanam Sherzodova finished 0.016 s ahead of Changwen Shuai. China did not enter the men's K1 or K2 500 m. Those titles went to Uzbekistan and South Korea respectively.
A total of 151 athletes competed at Miyoshi. The two events without Chinese entries also attracted the most nations: 14 in the men's K2 500 m and 13 in the men's K1 500 m. No other event featured more than 11.
Kazakhstan collected one silver and five bronze medals, the most bronzes of any nation. Host nation Japan finished with three medals but no gold.
Saturday's finals: three Chinese wins and Makhkamov's K1 gold
The final day began with the men's K1 and mixed K2 semifinals. Vietnam's Le Thien Hai Vu won the K1 semifinal in 1:48.408, with Singapore's Ther Tristan Loo 0.222 s behind. India's Harshwardhan Singh Shaktawat won the K1 B final in 1:52.458.
Women's K1 500 m. Nan Wang won in 1:55.999, finishing 1.770 s ahead of Uzbekistan's Arina Tanatmisheva. Kazakhstan's Stella Sukhanova took bronze in 1:59.688, with Singapore's Jiexian Stephenie Chen fourth, a further 0.929 s back. Wang had won K4 500 m gold the previous day, on her 26th birthday, in the same crew that claimed the world title in Poznań in August. She also won the K1 500 m at April's Asian Championships in Hefei, clocking 1:55.140. Sukhanova finished third on that occasion too.
Men's K1 500 m. Makhkamov won in 1:43.642, while just 0.020 s separated silver and bronze. South Korea's Sangwon Jang finished in 1:44.433, narrowly ahead of Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Kholmogorov in 1:44.453. Iran's Ali Aghamirzaeijenaghard, a K2 bronze medallist on Friday, placed fourth.
Japan's Taishi Tanada recorded the fastest men's K1 500 m time of the regatta in Thursday's heats. His 1:43.475 was 0.167 s quicker than Makhkamov's winning time in the final. Tanada finished fifth in the medal race in 1:45.382.
Makhkamov, born in 1997, won gold a day after finishing seventh in the K2 500 m final with Ziyodbek Yuldashaliev. Jang added his K1 silver to the K4 gold he had won on Thursday.
Mixed C2 500 m. China's Shengyue Wu and Yanan Ma won in 1:48.377. Uzbekistan's Vladlen Denisov and Nilufar Zokirova finished second, 1.297 s behind, while Kazakhstan's Sergey Yemelyanov and Rufina Iskakova took bronze in 1:51.124. The nations finished in the same order as in Hefei, where Wu and Li Yang won for China, but the winning margin was considerably larger than April's 0.225 s.
Wu and Ma each finished the regatta with two gold medals. Wu, born in December 2005, had won the men's C2 500 m with Bowen Ji on Thursday. Ma had taken the women's C2 500 m title with Mengya Sun on Friday.
Mixed K2 500 m. China's Chenhao Li and Luxi Zhang won the regatta's final race in 1:39.444. South Korea's Minkyu Choi and Minju Seon finished 0.905 s behind, while Japan's Rin Fukuda and Akihiro Inoue took bronze in 1:40.720. Kazakhstan's Olga Shmelyova and Artyom Terechshenko, silver medallists in Hefei, placed fourth. Li and Zhang had also enjoyed success at the Asian Championships: Li won the men's K1 and K2 500 m, while Zhang won the women's K2 500 m.
From a clean sweep in Hefei to eight titles at Miyoshi
April's Asian Championships in Hefei provide a useful comparison. China won gold in all twelve corresponding senior events there. Kazakhstan finished with three silver and five bronze medals, Uzbekistan with six silver and three bronze, and South Korea with two silver.
At Miyoshi, four titles went to other nations. China finished second in two of those events and did not enter the other two.
- In the men's K4 500 m, South Korea reversed a 0.708 s defeat in Hefei, beating the same Chinese crew by 0.255 s.
- In the women's C1 200 m, Sherzodova improved on her Hefei silver to beat Shuai by 0.016 s. The following day, she added C2 500 m silver with Zokirova.
- China did not enter the men's K1 or K2 500 m. Makhkamov won the singles title, while South Korea's Gwang Hee Cho and Hyobin Kim won the doubles.
China won the other eight events, often by a clear margin. Its winning margins included 3.130 s in the women's K2 500 m, 2.777 s in the women's K4 500 m and 2.137 s in the men's C2 500 m.
Uzbekistan went from six silver and three bronze medals in Hefei to two gold, six silver and one bronze at Miyoshi. Its athletes reached the podium in nine of the twelve events, with all six silver medals coming in finals won by China.
South Korea improved on its two silvers in Hefei to win two gold and two silver medals. Cho and Kim featured in both winning crews: they took the K4 500 m title with Jang and Choi on Thursday, then won the K2 500 m on Friday. In the K2 final, they beat Japan by 0.317 s after finishing 0.351 s behind the same Japanese crew in the heats.
Kazakhstan matched its five bronze medals from Hefei but won only one silver, compared with three at the Asian Championships.
Six finals decided by less than a second
| Event | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Women's C1 200 m | Uzbekistan | 0.016 s |
| Men's K4 500 m | South Korea | 0.255 s |
| Men's K2 500 m | South Korea | 0.317 s |
| Men's C1 500 m | China | 0.607 s |
| Men's K1 500 m | Uzbekistan | 0.791 s |
| Mixed K2 500 m | China | 0.905 s |
All four finals won by nations other than China were decided by less than 0.8 s. China's winning margins ranged from 0.607 s to 3.130 s, with six of its eight victories coming by more than 1.2 s.
There were close finishes further down the field too. Just 0.020 s separated Jang and Kholmogorov in the race for K1 500 m silver. The same margin separated fourth and fifth in Friday's men's K2 500 m final.
The medallists: three silvers for Denisov, two golds apiece for eight athletes
Vladlen Denisov: three finals, three silver medals
Vladlen Denisov contested three medal finals at Miyoshi and finished second in each, behind a Chinese crew every time.
On Thursday, he and Artur Guliev finished 2.137 s behind Ji and Wu in the men's C2 500 m. On Friday, he took C1 500 m silver, 0.607 s behind Ji, the C2 500 m Olympic champion from Paris 2024. On Saturday, he and Zokirova finished 1.297 s behind Wu and Ma in the mixed C2.
The singles result was a particular improvement on Hefei, where Denisov had missed the podium. Ji won that race by 2.345 s over Kuan-Chieh Lai of Chinese Taipei. At Miyoshi, Denisov finished just 0.607 s behind Ji, while Lai took bronze. Denisov's earlier successes include three U23 gold medals at the 2023 Asian Junior and U23 Championships in Samarkand, where he won the C1 over 200, 500 and 1000 m.
Five of the 16 gold medallists were born in 2005 or later
Eight athletes won two gold medals each: Ji, Wu, Ma, Wang, Shimeng Yu and Mengdie Yin for China, and Cho and Kim for South Korea. Only two athletes won three medals, both from Uzbekistan. Denisov took three silvers, while Tanatmisheva won silver in the K4 and K1 500 m and bronze in the K2 500 m.
Sixteen athletes won gold at Miyoshi: ten from China, four from South Korea and two from Uzbekistan. Five were born in 2005 or later. The youngest was Luxi Zhang, born in April 2007, who won the mixed K2 500 m. Chenhao Li, Shengyue Wu, Sherzodova and Siyu Shen were all born in 2005. Shen is the youngest member of the Chinese K4 crew that won the world title in Poznań in August.
The oldest gold medallist was Minkyu Choi, born in August 1992, who won the men's K4. On Saturday, he added mixed K2 silver with Minju Seon, who was born in 2005.
The age range was wider still across all 49 medallists. The oldest, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Shubina, was born in May 1988 and won silver in the women's K4 and bronze in the K2. Her K4 crewmate Milana Dushev-Yanich, born on 2 September 2011, had just turned 15. Kazakhstan's Evelina Kostenko, born in 2009, won K4 bronze, while men's K1 bronze medallist Kholmogorov turned 20 in January.
What's next: slalom on 29 September, Hangzhou on 1 October
The sprint regatta is over, but paddling continues at the Asian Games. Canoe slalom competition begins on 29 September. The next international event for the sprint teams, including China, is the ICF Hangzhou Super Cup, which starts on 1 October.
For more on the earlier races, read the day two recap and day three recap. Full results are available on the 2026 Asian Games canoe sprint event page.
Frequently asked questions
Who topped the canoe sprint medal table at the 2026 Asian Games?
China, with eight gold and two silver medals. Uzbekistan finished second, ahead of South Korea. Both won two gold medals, but Uzbekistan had more silvers: six to South Korea's two. Uzbekistan won nine medals in total, South Korea four, Kazakhstan six and Japan three.
Who won the men's K1 500 m at the 2026 Asian Games?
Uzbekistan's Shakhriyor Makhkamov won in 1:43.642. South Korea's Sangwon Jang took silver in 1:44.433, just 0.020 s ahead of Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Kholmogorov.
Who won the women's K1 500 m?
China's Nan Wang won in 1:55.999. Uzbekistan's Arina Tanatmisheva finished second, 1.770 s behind, and Kazakhstan's Stella Sukhanova took bronze.
Which events did China not win?
China took silver in the men's K4 500 m and women's C1 200 m, losing to South Korea by 0.255 s and Uzbekistan's Shohsanam Sherzodova by 0.016 s respectively. It did not enter the men's K1 or K2 500 m, which were won by Uzbekistan and South Korea.
Is China's lead over the rest of Asia shrinking?
One season's results are not enough to establish a trend. China won all twelve events in Hefei and eight at Miyoshi, but did not enter two of the other four. It lost only two finals in which it competed, by 0.255 s in the men's K4 500 m and 0.016 s in the women's C1 200 m. Six of its eight victories came by more than 1.2 s.
Which athletes won the most medals?
Uzbekistan's Vladlen Denisov and Arina Tanatmisheva won three medals each. Denisov took three silvers, while Tanatmisheva won two silvers and a bronze. Eight athletes won two gold medals apiece: six from China and two from South Korea.
How did the hosts perform?
Japan won three medals: silver in the men's K2 500 m and bronze in the men's K4 500 m and mixed K2 500 m. Taishi Tanada recorded the fastest men's K1 500 m time of the regatta in the heats, 1:43.475, but finished fifth in the final.
Is Uzbekistan now Asia's second-strongest canoe sprint nation?
The Miyoshi results support that assessment. Uzbekistan finished second in the medal table and reached the podium in nine of the twelve events. Only China won more medals. Uzbekistan nevertheless won the same number of golds as South Korea — two — and all six of its silvers came in finals won by China.