NAGOYA - Japan won gold medals in cycling track, judo and other sports at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday, pushing its tally to 60 and beyond the total it achieved at the previous games in Hangzhou in 2023.

Kaiya Ota defended his title in the men's sprint, while Tsuyaka Uchino and Maho Kakita retained their women's madison crown in track cycling.

"I had a lot of support from staff members, and I was able to win the gold medal this time against really strong rivals, so I'm really feeling proud of that," Ota said at a news conference.

Kanta Umezawa won gold in the men's omnium at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Japan claimed three judo gold medals, led by Sotaro Fujiwara in the men's 81-kilogram class at IG Arena in Nagoya.

In wrestling, Nonoka Ozaki claimed gold in the women's 62-kg class, while Yuri Nakazato won the men's Greco-Roman 97-kg title.

"It feels so strange. To be honest, I never imagined I could win the gold," Nakazato said. "I just wanted to win a medal and show my best performance for everyone supporting me, and that came true."

Among other sports, sailors Misaki Tanaka and Sera Nagamatsu captured gold in the women's skiff, while Kurumi Ito added another title for the host nation in the canoe slalom women's kayak single.

Tanaka and Nagamatsu finished ahead of Hong Kong and China, which took silver and bronze, respectively, at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture.

At Yahagigawa Canoe Slalom Course in Toyota, also in Aichi, Ito defeated China's Chen Lin, who took silver, and Kazakhstan's Yekaterina Tarantseva, the bronze medalist.