Thailand’s sprint sensation Puripol Boonson set the Nagoya track ablaze once more, scorching to men’s 200m gold at the 2026 Asian Games in a continental record-equalling 19.88 seconds on Sunday.
Puripol was imperious yet again on Sunday, delivering Thailand’s third athletics gold of the Games with a performance that left the rest of Asia trailing in his slipstream.
It capped a golden weekend for the Thai athletics team, coming a day after Joshua Atkinson produced a sensational late surge to claim the men’s 400m title on Saturday night.
Puripol seized top spot on the podium at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, powering clear of China’s Huang Youwen (20.45) and Japan’s Soshi Mizukubo (20.56) to make the field look ordinary.
The 20-year-old’s electrifying 19.88 matched the mark set by China’s Xie Zhenye in 2019, a time that places him among the very fastest men Asia has ever produced.
He had already served notice of what was to come in Saturday’s semi-final, exploding to a 20.10 clocking that shattered the previous Asian Games record of 20.14, set by Qatar’s Femi Ogunode at Incheon 2014.
It was Puripol’s second gold of Aichi-Nagoya 2026, following his blistering triumph in the men’s 100m final on Friday in a tournament-record 9.90sec — a victory that made him Thailand’s first men’s 100m Asian Games champion since the legendary Suchart Jairsuraparp struck gold in Bangkok back in 1978.
Meanwhile, Atkinson — the 23-year-old Thai-Australian — produced a heart-stopping finish of his own on Saturday, reeling in and overhauling the United Arab Emirates’ Suleiman Abdulrahman in the closing strides to snatch 400m gold in a national record and personal-best 44.90.
Abdulrahman had to settle for silver in 44.99, while Japan’s Joseph Nakajima completed the podium with bronze in 45.22.
Kunlavut makes history
Shuttler Kunlavut Vitidsarn battled his way into the men’s singles semi-finals to guarantee Thailand the first Asian Games badminton medal in the discipline in 56 years.
The Thai world No.2 fought back after dropping the first game to defeat Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 16-21, 21-10, 21-13 to progress to the last four, where he will face Indonesia’s world No.10 Alwi Farhan on Monday.
Kunlavut’s victory secured the first men’s singles medal since Sangob Rattanusorn at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok. It is also the second medal for the badminton team in Nagoya following the men’s team bronze.
Meanwhile Ratchanok Intanon’s final Asian Games campaign came to an end with a 21-8, 21-9 loss against the reigning world and Olympic champion, An Se-Young of South Korea, in the women’s singles quarter-finals.
Mixed doubles pair Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat also bowed out on Sunday as they lost to Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan 18-21, 14-21.
Bronze for Kurash star
The kurash team produced a first medal in Nagoya as Kunatip Yea-on matched his Hangzhou performance by winning a bronze medal in the men’s +90kg event.
Kunatip defeated Baek Du-San of South Korea 5-0 in the round of 16, then beat India’s Vishal by the same score in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four clash with Shakarmamad Mirmamadov.
But the Tajikistan athlete proved too strong as he powered to a 10-0 victory, leaving the Thai to contend for a bronze.
Meanwhile, boxer Natnicha Chongprongklang edged Nigina Uktamova of Uzbekistan to reach the semi-finals of the women’s 54kg event, guaranteeing herself at least a bronze medal in Nagoya.
The 22-year-old Thai fighter will face Japan’s Tsukimi Namiki in the semis on Tuesday.
Fellow Thai Janjaem Suwannapheng suffered a 5-0 loss against Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin, ending her challenge in the last eight of the women’s 65kg category.
Sakda Ruamtham also bowed out as he lost to South Korea’s Jang Dong-Hwan in the men’s 60kg quarter-final.
Takraw eyes redemption
The sepak takraw squad began their bid for redemption with the men’s single regu competition on Sunday.
Two days after their heartbreaking loss against fierce rivals Malaysia in the men’s regu team event, which ended their bid for an eighth straight Asian Games title, the Thais returned for the men’s single team preliminary round.
And the team did not disappoint as they claimed two wins in Group A on Sunday, beating the Philippines 2-0 and Japan 2-1 to progress to the semi-finals.
The Thai sepak takraw squad has already won one gold medal from the women’s regu team event and a silver from the men’s regu team event.
Skateboarder Vareeraya Sukasem achieved a total score of 102.85 points and finished in seventh place in the women’s street final on Sunday.
Vareeraya, who at 12 years old was the youngest ever Thai Olympian at the 2024 Paris Games, recorded a best run score of 23.24 points and a trick section score of 79.61 points during Sunday’s competition.
In volleyball, the men’s team took two hours and 23 minutes to edge past Indonesia 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23) in the opening Pool B match on Sunday.
The Thais, who claimed fifth place at the recent AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship in Fukuoka, will face Iran in the second match on Monday before wrapping up the pool play with a tie against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.