Choe Byeong-kwang wins race walk bronze for Korea's 1st athletics medal in Nagoya

Korea picked up its first athletics medal of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Wednesday, as Choe Byeong-kwang took bronze in the men's half marathon race walk.

Choe finished third with a time of 1:28:35 at the Aichi-Nagoya Race Walking Course in Nagoya, Japan. Shi Shengji of China won the gold medal in 1:23:32, and Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan claimed silver in 1:28:01.

This was Choe's fourth Asian Games appearance but his first medal at age 35.

"I felt so happy to win this medal and also became emotional, because this could be my last Asian Games," Choe said in a statement released by the Korea Association of Athletics Federations. "I believe younger athletes will post even better results in the future."

Choe was in fourth place through the first 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) of this 21.1-kilometer race. He climbed to fourth at the 7-kilometer mark and moved into third with about 9 kilometers left, eventually hanging on to take the bronze medal.

This was the first day of athletics at the ongoing Asian Games.

Yonhap