Tashkent, 25 October. Uzbekistan finished the 5th Asian Para Games in Japan third in the medal table with 145 medals, behind only China and the host nation Japan, and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the athletes, coaches and parents on the result.
Half of Uzbekistan's gold medals were won by women, according to the president's press office. Uzbek para-athletes set world and Asian records at the Games. Mirziyoyev said the results and the experience gained would form the basis of preparations for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The team was welcomed at Tashkent airport on the evening of 25 October.
The result is almost twice as good as last time. At the previous Asian Para Games, in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, Uzbekistan finished eighth with 79 medals, 25 of them gold, which was then the country's best medal haul. In 2018 in Indonesia the team won 75 medals and finished sixth, and in 2014 in South Korea it won 31 medals and finished fifth.
Para-athletes receive bonuses for medals. Under a presidential decree of 21 September, adopted during the Asian Games, winners and medallists at the Asian Games and Asian Para Games receive 25,000 dollars for gold, 12,500 for silver and 6,250 dollars for bronze; coaches receive 10,000, 5,000 and 2,500 dollars.
As at every previous Asian Para Games, China topped the medal table, for the fifth time in a row: 207 gold, 117 silver and 111 bronze medals, 435 in all. It was China's best result at an Asian Para Games held outside China; its athletes set 11 world and 18 Asian records. The host nation Japan was second with 64 gold, 60 silver and 62 bronze, 186 in all. Uzbekistan, according to the final table, won 45 gold, 49 silver and 51 bronze medals. India was fourth with 114 medals, 30 of them gold, its record at these Games, and South Korea fifth. Kazakhstan finished ninth with 50 medals.
China won 4.6 times as many golds as Uzbekistan, and more than Japan, Uzbekistan and India combined (139). Uzbekistan finished 19 golds behind second-placed Japan and 15 ahead of fourth-placed India.
What it means: Uzbekistan has established itself among Asia's three strongest Paralympic teams and almost doubled its own 2023 result. The president linked the result directly to preparations for the Paralympics.
Who benefits: Uzbek para-athletes receive state bonuses at the new rates; the country's Paralympic movement gains an argument for further funding.
Background: The 5th Asian Para Games took place in Japan's Aichi Prefecture, centred on Nagoya, from 18 to 24 October: athletes from 45 countries competed for 502 sets of medals in 18 sports. At the Asian Games held in the same place a month earlier, Uzbekistan finished fifth with 70 medals; there too the top two places went to China (169 gold, 341 medals) and Japan (83 gold, 269 medals). Almost 3,000 athletes competed at the Para Games.
We have also reported that Kazakhstan finished the Asian Para Games with 50 medals in ninth place.
