Olga Shmelyova wins gold and silver at 2026 Canoe Sprint Asian Championships
Team Kazakhstan has added five more medals to its tally at the 2026 ACC Canoe Sprint Asian Championships in Hefei, China, serving as a qualifying event for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to the Committee for Sports and Physical Culture, Kazakhstan’s Olga Shmelyova won gold in the women’s K-1 200 meters event. She later teamed up with Tatyana Tokarnitskaya to claim silver in the 500 meters race.
Last year, I finished third in this distance. Today I managed to beat my rival and take revenge. I put all my effort into training this year, and here is the result!” Shmelyova said after the finish.
This marks her third medal at the tournament in Hefei - one gold and two silver.
World Championship bronze medalist Viktor Stepanov also secured a place among the top three, winning bronze in the men’s C-1 200 meters event.
Additionally, Kazakhstan earned two more bronze medals in the 500 meters events: Sergey Yemelyanov and Alisher Khayotov finished third in the C-2 race, while Bekarys Ramatulla and Dmitriy Kholmogorov took bronze in the K-2 event.
After two days of competition, Kazakhstan has collected nine medals in total - two gold, two silver, and five bronze. The final medals will be contested on Sunday, with China currently leading the overall standings by a significant margin.
Previously, Qazinform reported the Kazakhstani rider wins gold at the FEI World Cup stage in Tashkent.