China’s 18-year-old Yan Ziyi shattered the Asian Games record to win javelin gold, showcasing her rare talent on a day marked by a medalist’s failed doping test and a decorated badminton player calling the event “sad.”
Day eight saw golds awarded in athletics, diving, skateboarding, squash and weightlifting.
On another wet day in Aichi-Nagoya, Yan dominated the women's javelin with her first and only throw of 70.46 meters.
The throw set a new Games record, surpassing the 66.09-meter mark by compatriot Liu Shiying in 2018 and placing Japan's reigning Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi in a distant second with 62.70 meters.
Yan's remarkable throw was the sixth-best of all time. The world record of 72.28 meters was set by Barbora Spotakova in 2008.
Yan is closing in. She hurled 71.74 meters in May, the second-best throw of all time.
On the track, Thailand's Puripol Boonson completed a sprint double, winning the men's 200-meter after his 100-meter victory.
His time of 19.88 seconds equaled the Asian record.
Asked how much faster he can run, the 20-year-old said: "I can't say how fast it's going to be, but it's going to be more records and faster."
By the end of day eight, China topped the medals table with 119 golds, followed by Japan with 37 and South Korea with 20.
North Korea had more record-setting success in weightlifting, bringing its total to six golds out of 10 available in the sport so far.
China maintained its unbeaten start in diving, while two teenagers won gold in the street skateboarding finals.
China's Zhu Yuanling, 15, won the women's event, and South Korea's Juni Kang, 17, won the men's title.
Kang aims for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
"I want to be No. 1 in LA," he said.
Malaysia dominated the squash, with Ng Eain Yow winning the men's event and compatriot Sivasangari Subramaniam winning the women's singles.
Both secured spots at the Los Angeles Games.
To save money, organizers in Aichi-Nagoya did not build a traditional athletes' village. Competitors instead stayed in hotels, temporary wooden units or on a cruise ship.
India's multiple badminton medalist H.S. Prannoy said that made for a disappointing experience.
"It was sad," said the 34-year-old, who won team bronze, in a YouTube video published by the Badminton Association of India.
The Games have experienced problems, including a shortage of rooms, long delays at the airport and poor transport services.
Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Shavkatov became the first medalist at the Games to test positive for doping.
Shavkatov, who won bronze in mixed martial arts, was provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, the International Testing Agency said.
The drug is a prescription heart medication that improves endurance and accelerates muscle recovery.
