35 medals and one record: Tajikistan’s journey at the Summer Asian Games

The 2026 Asian Games will be the ninth in the history of the Tajikistan national team. Over more than three decades, the country has progressed from winning its first two bronze medals in Hiroshima to claiming Asian Games gold through athletes such as Dilshod Nazarov, Jahon Qurbonov, Somon Mahmadbekov and Davlat Boltayev. Ahead of the Games in Japan, Tajikistan’s all-time Asian Games medal tally stands at 35 — six gold, eight silver and 21 bronze . The Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 4 , with around 120 Tajik athletes expected to compete. For Tajik sport, the Asian Games are the continent’s premier multi-sport event and an important test of the country’s progress following its strong performance at the Hangzhou Games. There is also a historical parallel: Tajikistan’s Asian Games debut took place in Japan.

In 1994, the country competed for the first time as an independent team in Hiroshima. Thirty-two years later, it returns to Japan for its ninth Summer Asian Games. First medals — in Japan At Hiroshima 1994, Tajikistan won two bronze medals. The country’s first medalists were karateka Isroil Ismoilov in the 80kg category and judoka Khayrullo Nazriev in the 86kg category. Tajikistan finished 29th in the overall standings. The 1998 Bangkok Games remain the only Asian Games from which independent Tajikistan returned without a medal. At Busan 2002, the team made a major step forward, winning six medals — two silver and four bronze . Freestyle wrestlers Lidia Karamchakova and Yusuf Abdusalomov won silver. Karamchakova became the first Tajik woman to win an Asian Games medal. The bronze medals went to wrestler Shamil Aliyev, boxers Abdusalom Hasanov and Mehroj Umarov, and karateka Isroil Ismoilov, who won his second Asian Games medal after…