Philippines Posts Biggest Asian Games Medal Haul in Six Decades
Four golds and 29 medals overall as Aichi-Nagoya Games close
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File photo: Carlos Yulo competing in floor exercise at the 2019 SEA Games. Photo: Philippine Sports Commission, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
NAGOYA, Japan — The Philippines closed the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya with four gold medals, nine silver and 16 bronze for a total of 29 — its largest medal haul in six decades, Rappler and GMA News reported.
The total is the country's most medals since it won 42 at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, Rappler said. The Philippines matched Hangzhou 2023's four golds but finished with 11 more medals than the 18 collected three years ago.
The four gold medals
Olympic champion Carlos Yulo led the way with two gymnastics golds on floor exercise and vault — the same apparatus on which he won Olympic titles. EJ Obiena defended his men's pole vault crown with an Asian Games record clearance of 5.91 meters. Jeus Gabriel Derick Yape then delivered the Philippines' first Asian Games taekwondo gold in the debut mixed individual virtual taekwondo event, after earlier taking bronze in individual poomsae.
Silvers, bronzes and the bigger picture
Gilas Pilipinas Women earned silver in 3x3 basketball. Tennis star Alex Eala took bronze in women's singles. Other silvers included boxing's Carlo Paalam and several taekwondo finals appearances, according to Rappler and GMA.
China topped the overall medal table for a 12th consecutive Games, with host Japan second and South Korea third. The Games closed on 4 October, with the baton next heading toward Doha 2030.
Philippine officials had hoped for eight golds, a mark last approached with seven golds in 1962, but a fifth gold in 2026 proved elusive after multiple final losses. Still, the 29-medal finish marked a broader podium spread than Hangzhou and the country's strongest overall return since the mid-1960s.
Sources: ESPN; Rappler; GMA News
