Sato and Ota both set to skip Asian Games keirin

Kaiya Ota and Mina Sato – the top male and female sprinters in Asia, based on the latest UCI world rankings – will both sit out the keirin events at the Asian Games later this month, focusing instead on the individual and team sprint competitions.

Provisional details on the Asian Games 2026 results website show that Japan will be represented in the women’s competition by Haruka Nakazawa and 19 year old Minami Yamada, who finished fourth at Japanese nationals in June.

It means that Sato will not defend the title she won in China in 2022.

China’s slate for the keirin competitions is especially strong, with all four riders currently ranked in the UCI top 20 – although none has raced since May.

The rider likely to attract the most attention is of course Azizulhasni Awang: the Games could have been his final farewell, but of course we learned last month that he had reached agreement to continue to Los Angeles 2028. He will be joined in Malaysian colours by Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who is working to rediscover his best form following knee surgery.

The Games are nominally hosted by Aichi-Nagoya; but the track cycling will take place some 200km to the east, at the Izu Velodrome which hosted the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.