Central Asian athlete's gold medal cancelled due to shoes

Kazakhstan track and field athlete Yasmina Tuksonbayeva's victory in the 42.195-kilometer racewalk marathon at the 2026 Asian Games was cancelled following a protest by her rivals. The athlete announced this on her Instagram page on September 28.

Tuksonbayeva had covered the competition distance in 3 hours 22 minutes 20 seconds, crossing the finish line first. This result meant she was supposed to bring the Kazakhstan national team its ninth gold medal at the Asian Games.

However, after the athlete completed the distance, an official protest was filed regarding her result. The final protocol of the competition also marked “Protested” next to Tuksonbayeva's result.

The protest was caused by the shoes worn by the Kazakh athlete during the competition. Rivals questioned whether the ASICS sneaker model used by Tuksonbayeva met the requirements on World Athletics' official list of approved shoes.

Following this, the athlete's marathon result was cancelled. As a result, the Kazakhstan national team lost the gold medal that was expected to be credited to Tuksonbayeva.

Interestingly, Tuksonbayeva had expressed her reaction on social media even before the final decision was announced. She stated that even if the gold medal were taken away from her, she would compete again and win this medal back.

Thus, the victory of the Kazakh athlete who reached the finish line first in the marathon was unexpectedly cancelled due to the shoe issue. Meanwhile, Tuksonbayeva's post-competition statement shows her intention to restore the result and fight for victory again.