Thai Relay Star Eyes Final Asian Games Before Retirement
Veteran Thai distance runner Naan Suphanich Poolkerd aims to lead the women's relay team to a strong finish at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya before retiring from international competition after competing in four consecutive Games.
Naan Suphanich Poolkerd, a veteran Thai distance runner, hopes to lead the women's relay team to a strong finish at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan before stepping away from international competition after competing in four consecutive Asian Games. The 20th Asian Games will take place from September 19 to October 4, 2026, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Naan has been training intensively with younger teammates ahead of the event.
Naan said she is giving everything she has in both training and competition. As she gets older, her body takes longer to recover, and she believes this may be her final Asian Games. She is committed to taking her teammates to the finish line with complete effort and minimal mistakes. She described this relay team as a mixture of veteran and new runners, with the younger athletes bringing fresh strength to the squad. In her view, this is the best team she has served with during her career in the national team, and she hopes they will achieve better results than they did at the Southeast Asian Games.
