Kazakhstan targets medals in boxing and swimming at 2026 Asian Summer Games
At the upcoming XX Summer Asian Games in Japan, Team Kazakhstan relies on achieving success boxing, wrestling, judo, track-and-field, swimming and archery. This was announced by Ruslan Yessenalin, Chairman of the Sports and Physical Culture Committee of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, at a press conference in Astana, Kazinform News Agency reports.
According to him, around 30 Kazakhstani athletes have applied for inclusion in the national team.
He added that the team will comprise more than 500 athletes competing in 30 disciplines.
Director General of the Kazakhstan National Olympic Committee Nurlan Nogerbek noted that squash - set to be included in the 2028 Olympic Games program - represents a promising direction.
“Kazakhstan has set up its squash federation with coaches already working and athletes training. We hope that the national team will be able to demonstrate its potential in this sport as well,” he emphasized.
Kazakhstan will also send its strong teams in non-Olympic sports, such as kurash, MMA and eSports. Sports leaders expressed confidence that the country’s results at the 2026 Asian Games may surpass those of previous competitions.
Acting Director General of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Organizing Committee Yasuhiro Nakamori unveiled the concept of accommodation of athletes:
“About 4,000 participants will be accommodated on a cruise ship at Kinjo Pier, which will become a kind of ‘floating village.’ Another 2,000 athletes will be accommodated in hotels in Aichi Prefecture and neighboring cities,” he said.
He specified that some of the competitions will take place outside of Nagoya.
“Water and equestrian sports will be organized in Tokyo, which has all the necessary infrastructure for that,” he noted.
2026 Asian Summer Games: Key facts
The XX Asian Summer Games will be held from September 19 to October 4, 2026 in Japan's Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City. The organizers are the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Asian Organizing Committee AINAGOC. The slogan of the Games is "Imagine One Asia".
Athletes will compete in 41 sports, with 460 sets of medals to be awarded in 68 disciplines: 217 in men's, 204 in women's and 39 in mixed categories. The program includes Olympic, non-Olympic and traditional Asian sports.
The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the New Paloma Mizuho Stadium. This will be Japan's third experience of hosting the Summer Asian Games: the country previously hosted the event in 1958 in Tokyo and in 1994 in Hiroshima.
Kazakhstan has been participating in the Asian Summer Games since 1994. At the last Games in Hangzhou, the national team ranked 11th in the overall team standings, winning 10 gold, 22 silver and 48 bronze medals.
