Asian Games 2026: India finish fourth with 85 medals after late gold rush

India on Saturday ended their Asian Games campaign with 21 gold, 27 silver, and 37 bronze, securing the fourth place in the rankings after beating Uzbekistan in a last-minute rush at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.

Until their win in men's hockey finals on Saturday, India had been stuck in the fifth place with one less gold medal than Uzbekistan, which had ended its campaign with 21 gold medals.

Though the 5-1 win against Malaysia equalised the gold-medal tally between India and Uzbekistan, the former got ahead with 27 silver medals—just two more than Uzbekistan's 25. India also has 37 bronze medals as compared to Uzbekistan's 24.

Far above India on the rankings is South Korea with 38 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze, putting their total at 148 medals—64 more than India's total haul.

In the second and first places are Japan and China with 83 and 169 gold medals respectively, putting their totals so far at 268 and 341.

Notably, India's 85-medal haul makes the Aichi-Nagoya edition in 2026 their second-best Asian Games campaign in terms of total medals, second to their record 106 won at the Hangzhou edition in 2023. However, they finished in fourth place in both 2023 and 2026.

The 21 gold medals are also India's second-highest gold tally at the Asian Games after the Huangzhou edition in 2023, in which they earned 28 medals.

India's 768-member contingent at the Asian Games earned medals in 20 sports events, with athletics contributing the 24 medals—the highest of all.

This was followed by 15 medals for shooting, and nine for archery. India's five medals in archery contributed the most to their 21 golds, followed by boxing and shooting that added three golds each, while wrestling, hockey, kabaddi and cricket contributed two each.

The golds for cricket, hockey, and kabaddi were extra special, as both the men's and women's teams earned them, securing their spots in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for cricket and hockey.