Just two weeks ago, Yan Ziyi’s campaign at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest ended early when the 18-year-old withdrew from the women’s javelin final after suffering a right-foot injury. But she returned in Nagoya for the Asian Games and produced a throw to defeat Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi and break the Asian Games record.

On September 27, Yan stepped into the women’s javelin final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games but rain had made conditions difficult. Still the teenager needed just one attempt to make her mark. Yan launched her first throw 70.46m, immediately moving clear of the field and securing the gold medal. The distance smashed the previous Asian Games record of 66.09m, set by China’s Liu Shiying in 2018.

There was no need for Yan to return to the runway. Her opening effort was enough to settle the contest, turning her Asian Games debut into a remarkable one-throw victory. The result also gave Yan a chance to turn the tables on Kitaguchi. The Japanese star, who won Olympic gold in Paris, had defeated Yan in Budapest earlier this month. This time, however, Kitaguchi could only produce a best throw of 62.70m, leaving her with silver.

Yan’s margin was outstanding, with her 70.46m landing almost eight metres beyond Kitaguchi’s best effort. Yan later admitted that she never expected the Asian Games final to be over after her opening throw. “My plan was to make my first two throws count…But I didn’t expect to reach that distance on my very first throw.”

The rain presented another challenge in Nagoya, yet Yan said, “As an athlete who has competed in many meets and on the international stage, I think it’s very important to adapt to changing conditions.” Her performance was even more impressive given what had happened just 15 days earlier.

In Budapest, Yan opened with 68.05m before developing pain around her right foot during her second attempt. She managed 63.95m but then decided to withdraw from the final. A subsequent medical examination reportedly found a soft-tissue injury in her right foot, with no bone damage. Yet just two weeks later, Yan was back on the runway.

The teenager had already made history earlier this year when she threw 71.74m in Xiamen in May. That mark remains the second-best women’s javelin throw in history, behind Barbora Špotáková’s world record of 72.28m. Even Yan became only the sixth woman ever to throw beyond 70 metres with that Xiamen effort. Now, after adding 70.46m in Nagoya, she has crossed the 70-metre barrier twice in the same year. While Yan Ziyi was making history in the javelin, another remarkable moment unfolded on the track in Nagoya.

Shanti Pereira turns title defence into a historic achievement

Singapore’s Shanti Pereira added another historic chapter to her career at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The 30-year-old successfully defended her women’s 200m title, crossing the finish line in a season’s best 22.78 seconds to claim gold. Pereira had already made history when she won the 200m at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, but her latest victory took that achievement a step further.

The final was far from straightforward, with China’s Chen Yujie making a strong start. Chen, who had already won the 100m earlier in the Games, looked quick through the opening stages, but Pereira responded in the second half and gradually moved ahead. She finished in 22.78 seconds, with Chen taking silver in 22.93 and India’s Harita Bhadra securing bronze in 23.20.

Pereira’s latest gold also carries special meaning because of what her first Asian Games title represented for Singapore. Her victory in Hangzhou ended the country’s 49-year wait for an athletics gold medal at the Games. Before Pereira’s breakthrough, Singapore’s previous athletics gold had come in 1974, when Chee Swee Lee won the women’s 400m.

That means Pereira has now achieved two separate milestones at the Asian Games. In 2023, she became Singapore’s first athletics gold medallist at the Games since 1974. Three years later, she became the first woman to win the Asian Games 200m title twice.