China rows to record 9 gold medals in a single day at 2026 Asian Games
Synopsis
China won nine rowing golds in a single compressed day at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya — a record one-day haul at the Continental event. Heavy rain forced all 14 finals into one session, and China dominated, bettering its own 11-gold tally from Hangzhou 2023 and losing just one final to Kazakhstan.
Key Takeaways
China won 9 of 14 rowing gold medals on Thursday, 24 September at the 2026 Asian Games — a record single-day haul at the Continental Games.
All 14 finals were held in one day after heavy rain compressed the schedule from five days to two .
Yi Xudi and Nie Yide edged Uzbekistan by just 0.72 seconds in the men's double sculls, finishing in 6:09.77 .
China's 19-year-old Zhang Xinyu won the women's single sculls on her debut in the event.
China's only silver came in the men's pair , won by Kazakhstan's Yakovlev and Chernukhin .
At the previous Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, China had won 11 of 14 rowing golds.
China delivered a dominant display on the water at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, claiming nine of the 14 rowing gold medals decided on Thursday, 24 September at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Gifu Prefecture — the most gold medals won by any nation in a single day of rowing at the Continental Games.
Why All 14 Finals Were Held on One Day
Heavy rainfall earlier this month forced organisers to compress what was originally a five-day rowing programme into just two days, according to the organising committee. Following Wednesday's heats, all 14 gold medal events were decided in a single marathon session on Thursday — a scheduling rarity that added historical weight to China's achievement.
China's Medal Sweep: Event by Event
Deng Zhiwei, making his Asian Games debut, opened China's account in the men's single sculls with a time of 6:38.98. Yi Xudi and Nie Yide then edged out Uzbekistan by a razor-thin 0.72 seconds in the men's double sculls, finishing in 6:09.77. Yi, 33, who had only recently formed the partnership with Nie, acknowledged the pair had worked through differences in their rowing styles before pulling off the narrow win.
'This gold is precious to me and to the team,' Yi said. 'I've trained for 17 years. All that hard work is no longer just about winning gold. I've come to enjoy the training and racing itself.' He added: 'That was a hard race in the last hundred [meters]. We weren't stressed before that, even though there was a little bit of margin to our opponents. That's all under control and in line with plan.'
China's women were equally formidable, contributing five titles. Zhang Xinyu triumphed in the women's single sculls, Wang Sixuan and Shen Shuangmei took the women's double sculls, and Ren Wanning and Zhu Hongshan claimed the women's pair. Xu Yixi, Li Yan, Han Mengyao, and Jiao Siyu won the women's quadruple sculls, while the crew featuring Zhang Shuxian secured the women's four. Zhang, just 19 years old, said she had felt both excited and under pressure when selected for the single sculls event, but had committed to giving her all.
On the men's side, the men's quadruple sculls crew added another gold before Li Chun, Li Zepeng, Shao Zhiqiang, and Bian Shihao clinched the day's final rowing title in the men's four.
China's Only Setback and Other Podium Stories
China's sole silver came in the men's pair, where Yang Mengshuai and Cao Chuang finished behind Kazakhstan's Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin — the one final that slipped through China's grasp on an otherwise historic day.
Beyond China's dominance, Chiu Hin Chun from Hong Kong, China claimed gold in the men's lightweight single sculls. Iran swept both women's lightweight sculls events, while Uzbekistan took the men's lightweight double sculls title.
A Step Up From Hangzhou 2023
China's performance surpasses its own benchmark from the previous edition: at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, China had won 11 of 14 rowing gold medals. Thursday's haul of nine from a single compressed day underscores the nation's enduring stranglehold on Asian rowing and sets the bar higher ahead of the remaining Games events in Nagoya.
Point of View
But the compressed schedule deserves scrutiny — with five days of racing folded into two, recovery time between events was minimal, which could have levelled the field against smaller rowing nations. That China still dominated so comprehensively only reinforces how structurally superior its programme is. The one blemish — the men's pair going to Kazakhstan — is a reminder that podium variety exists at the margins, but China's rowing factory shows no signs of slowing. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics on the horizon, Thursday's performance is as much a global signal as a Continental one.
NationPress
24 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How many rowing gold medals did China win at the 2026 Asian Games?
China won nine rowing gold medals on Thursday, 24 September at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan — a record single-day haul at the Continental Games. The nine golds came from 14 finals all decided on the same day due to a weather-compressed schedule.
Why were all 14 rowing finals held on the same day?
Heavy rain earlier in September forced the organising committee to shrink the rowing programme from five days to two. After heats on Wednesday, all 14 gold medal events were decided on Thursday at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Gifu Prefecture.
Which Chinese rowers stood out at the 2026 Asian Games?
Yi Xudi and Nie Yide were among the standouts, winning the men's double sculls by just 0.72 seconds over Uzbekistan. Zhang Xinyu won the women's single sculls, while 19-year-old Zhang Shuxian's crew claimed the women's four in her Asian Games debut event.
Did China win every rowing final at the 2026 Asian Games?
No — China won nine of 14 rowing golds but finished second in the men's pair, which was won by Kazakhstan's Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin. Hong Kong claimed the men's lightweight single sculls, Iran swept the women's lightweight sculls, and Uzbekistan took the men's lightweight double sculls.
How does China's 2026 rowing performance compare to the 2023 Asian Games?
China's tally is up from the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, where the nation had won 11 of 14 rowing golds. The 2026 record of nine golds in a single compressed day is considered a new benchmark for one-day performance at the Continental Games.
