PH caps Asian Games with biggest medal haul in 6 decades

Team Philippines ended its campaign at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with the biggest haul yet in six decades, with four golds, nine silvers, and 16 bronzes, for a total of 29 medals in Nagoya, Japan, from Sept. 19–Oct. 4.

Ranked 17th overall, the Philippines was hungrier and more diverse in Nagoya, raising its haul to 29 medals, up from 18 in the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago. Beyond the golds from gymnastics and athletics, medals also came from taekwondo, sepak takraw, jiu-jitsu, karate, esports, and more, a sign of depth and diverse excellence across many sports.

The Golden Stars

Carlos Yulo led the Philippines to its first gold. The 26-year-old gymnast secured victory in the men's floor exercise with a score of 14.666 at Nagoya General Gymnasium. The Olympian then bagged another gold in the men's vault title a day later, where he posted an average score of 14.599 in his two vaults—14.733 and 14.466, respectively. 

EJ Obiena then supplied the tournament’s most memorable moment when he defended his back-to-back pole vault crown with a 5.75-meter leap, and still went on to clear 5.91 meters to set a new Asian Games record. 

The fourth gold came as a clutch win when 22-year-old taekwondo jin Jeus Yape beat Vietnam's Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau, 2-0, in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event. Yape’s title became the Philippines’ first-ever Asian Games gold medal in the sport, following his bronze in the men's individual poomsae earlier in the Games. 

Silver with a Shine

Besides Yape’s gold, three more taekwondo jins clinch silver: Olympian Kurt Bryan Barbosa in men's -58kg, Tachiana Mangin in women's -49kg, and Juliana Candelaria in individual poomsae.

Every athlete in the Games is a true contender for the podium, and Olympian Carlo Paalam proved it by delivering a brilliant, world-class performance to secure silver in the men’s 55kg final against Japan's Rui Yamaguchi on a split decision decided by just a single judge’s card. 

There were other close calls and near-misses. The Gilas Pilipinas Women’s 3x3 basketball squad featuring Kacey dela Rosa, Amyah Espanol, Kennan Ka, and Maria Victoria Pasilang muscled their way into the final before settling for silver after a 21-11 loss to Japan. 

Jean Marie Sucalit, Abegail Sinogbuhan, and Nelly Jay Salon also lifted Philippine sepak takraw to the Asian Games podium with a silver in the women's doubles against Vietnam—the Philippines’ best finish since the sport debuted in 1990.

Archer Amaya Amparo Cojuangco also clinched silver in compound women’s individual archery, Alexandria Enriquiez for jiu jitsu women’s -63kg, and Jean Claude Saclag opened the silver column with a runner-up finish in men's traditional -65 kg mixed martial arts.

Resiliency in Bronze

Bronze was where the depth and diversity of our athletes flourished, where Team Pilipinas has taken home 16 medals from 13 different sports. One of them was from Alex Eala, the top seed in women's singles, who fell short in the semifinals to China's Wang Xiyu and went home with a bronze podium finish, the same as three years ago.

Two young athletes also stepped onto the podium: Karl Eldrew Yulo, who sealed the horizontal bar bronze in his first year of senior competition, and Albert Ian Delos Santos, who lifted 324 kg for bronze in the men's 70 kg weightlifting.

In Athletics, John Tolentino ran a season-best 13.48 seconds in the 110m hurdles, and Victoria Bossong took the women's 800m bronze. Alas Pilipinas Beach volleyball pair Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara beat a Chinese pair in three sets to give the country its first beach volleyball medal. On a virtual battlefield, Sibol's Honor of Kings squad and Pokémon Unite team also finished third in esports. 

The rest of the list was women's kumite -50 kg’s Marie June Adriano, men's sepak takraw team, Jiu-jitsu's Kaila Napolis, karate's women's team kata trio, MMA's Carlos Alvarez, the women's soft tennis team and surfer Jayuard Alciso, who brought bronze to surfing’s debut in the Games.

No Where To Go But Up

The Philippines sent its largest Asian Games contingent in more than 30 years, with more than 450 athletes across 39 sports. The results showed that success at the Asian level is no longer an occasional breakthrough built around a solitary icon, as the country has grown into a multi-sport nation.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Patrick Gregorio praised the team's remarkable performance, pointing to the increase in the number of sports that contributed medals—from 11 sports in the Hangzhou Games to 18-19 sports in Aichi-Nagoya.

The 29 medals that Team Philippines took home are the country’s biggest haul in 60 years, and the closest it has come to the 42 medals won at the 1966 Bangkok Games, a mark that still waits to be beaten.

The campaign had its narrow misses and its breakthroughs, and both will fuel the next Olympic cycle as Filipino athletes keep bringing pride to the country.