The Saudi delegation ended its participation in the twentieth Asian Games “Nagoya 2026” with the largest medal tally in the history of its participation in the continental sports forum, after collecting 17 medals, 4 gold, 3 silver, and 10 bronze, and came in 18th place on the general ranking table, in a result that reveals a clear development in the size of the harvest, without being matched so far by a similar progress in its position among the Asian sports powers.
Nagoya's medals raised Saudi Arabia's historical tally since its first participation in the Asian Games to 88 medals, 33 gold, 18 silver, and 37 bronze.
Saudi Arabia entered the current edition with 71 medals (29 gold, 15 silver and 27 bronze), before adding Nagoya’s tally of 17 medals.
The Saudi medals in Nagoya were distributed among five sports, with jiu-jitsu contributing the most with five medals (two gold and three bronze), while equestrian won four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze), and e-sports added three medals (one silver and two bronze), and karate won three (one silver and two bronze), while two bronzes came from athletics.
The four gold medals came from only two sports: Omar Nada won the jiu-jitsu gold medal in the under-94 kilogram category, and his brother Abdullah Nada added a gold medal in the under-85 kilogram category, while the show jumping team won the team gold medal through Ramzi Al-Dahami, Khaled Al-Mabatti, Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi, and Saad Al-Ajmi, before Al-Dahami added the individual gold medal.
The distribution of medals reveals an important aspect of the Saudi centre’s reading. The ten bronze medals represented 58.8 percent of the tally, while the four gold medals represented 23.5 percent. In the Asian Games table, the ranking is not determined by the total medals, but rather by the number of golds first, then the silvers when the gold is equal, then the bronzes.
This rule appears clearly when reading the countries that preceded Saudi Arabia in Nagoya. China topped with 341 medals (169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze), Japan came second with 269 medals (83 gold, 95 silver and 91 bronze), then South Korea came third with 150 medals (39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze).
India ranked fourth with 85 medals (21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze), Uzbekistan fifth with 70 medals (21 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze), Iran sixth with 52 medals (19 gold, 18 silver and 15 bronze), and Thailand seventh with 52 medals as well (18 gold, 13 silver and 21 bronze).
Kazakhstan came eighth with 84 medals (12 gold, 24 silver, and 48 bronze), Hong Kong was ninth with 54 medals (11 gold, 19 silver, and 24 bronze), while Bahrain ranked tenth with 22 medals (11 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze).
Malaysia ranked 11th with 32 medals (9 gold, 7 silver, and 16 bronze), North Korea came in 12th place with 29 medals (7 gold, 13 silver, and 9 bronze), then the UAE came in 13th place with 13 medals (7 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze), while Qatar came in 14th place with 18 medals (6 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze).
Chinese Taipei came in 15th place with 55 medals (5 gold, 17 silver, and 33 bronze), Indonesia in 16th place with 39 medals (5 gold, 11 silver, and 23 bronze), then the Philippines in 17th place with 29 medals (4 gold, 9 silver, and 16 bronze), and Saudi Arabia in 18th place with 17 medals (4 gold, 3 silver). And 10 bronze).
A comparison between these countries reveals that the total number alone is not enough to create an advanced position; Bahrain came tenth with 22 medals, five places ahead of Chinese Taipei, which collected 55 medals. The UAE also ranked 13th with only 13 medals, ahead of Qatar, Taipei and Indonesia, despite each having a greater total tally. The difference here is made by gold; Bahrain won 11 golds, and the UAE won 7, compared to 5 golds for Taipei and Indonesia.
As for Saudi Arabia, it tied with the Philippines in four gold medals, and the ruling moved to the silver medals, as the Philippines had 9 compared to Saudi Arabia’s 3, so that the Philippines came in 17th place and Saudi Arabia in 18th. It is a direct example that improving Saudi Arabia's position is not only linked to increasing the total number, but also to the quality of the medals that make up that number.
Reading Saudi posts since Busan 2002 provides a clearer picture. In Busan, Saudi Arabia ranked 11th after achieving 9 medals (7 gold, a silver and a bronze), then in Doha 2006 it collected a total of 14 medals (8 gold and 6 bronze) and came in 13th place.
In Gwangju 2010, Saudi Arabia won 13 medals (5 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze), and came in 13th place, before falling in Incheon 2014 to 19th place with 7 medals (3 gold, 3 silver, and a bronze).
Jakarta 2018 recorded the lowest position for Saudi Arabia during this period, when it came in 25th place with six medals (gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze), before the recovery process began in Hangzhou 2023, with the tally rising to 10 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze) and advancing to 19th place.
In Nagoya the upward trend in numbers continued; From 6 medals in Jakarta to 10 in Hangzhou and then 17 in Nagoya. Thus, the tally increased compared to Jakarta by 11 medals, or 183.3 percent, while the ranking improved seven places, from 25th to 18th.
The comparison between Busan and Nagoya remains the most realistic; In 2002, Saudi Arabia achieved 9 medals and ranked 11th, while in 2026 it achieved nearly double that number, reaching 17 medals, yet it finished the tournament in 18th place. The difference is that gold represented 7 out of 9 medals in Busan, at a rate of 77.8 percent, compared to 4 out of 17 in Nagoya, at a rate of 23.5 percent.
The sequence of gold medals since 2002 summarizes a large part of the Saudi journey: 7 gold medals in Busan, 8 in Doha, 5 in Gwangju, 3 in Inchon, one gold in Jakarta, then 4 in Hangzhou and 4 in Nagoya.
These numbers do not reflect a state of stability, nor do they mean a complete restoration of the positions that Saudi Arabia reached at the beginning of the millennium. Since Jakarta, the number of medals has increased from 6 to 10 and then to 17, and the ranking has improved from 25th place to 19th and then 18th, which confirms the existence of progress, but the pace of the rise in the tally was much faster than the pace of rise in the countries’ table.
Between the 11th place with nine medals in Busan and the 18th place with 17 medals in Nagoya, the picture becomes clear: Saudi Arabia achieves more medals, but it does not advance in the ranking at the same rate. The next stage is not only related to increasing the number, but also to increasing the share of gold. Because four golds out of 17 medals placed Saudi Arabia in 18th place, while seven golds out of nine medals led it to 11th place 24 years ago.
