Puripol Boonson (athletics, Thailand)
Teenage Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson showcased his immense potential when he clocked 10.02 seconds to finish second behind China's Xie Zhenye (9.97 sec) in the men's 100 meters final.
At last year's Southeast Asian Games, the 17-year-old won three gold medals and broke Thailand's 100m national record, which had stood for 23 years. At this year's Asian championships, he was a member of Thailand's victorious 4x100m relay team.
Progressing from domestic to continental championships in just a year, Boonson's growth has been phenomenal, and it seems inevitable that he will eventually contend for medals on the global stage.
Huang Yuting (shooting, China)
China has never lacked world-class shooters, and Huang Yuting is the latest young prospect off the talent production line.
As one of the most talked-about rising stars at the Asian Games, the 17-year-old Zhejiang native clinched three gold medals — women's individual 10m air rifle, and the team and mixed team events.
Huang had already announced her arrival on the global stage by pocketing two golds and one silver in her international debut at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Egypt, earning multiple Paris 2024 Olympic berths for China in the process.
An Chang-ok (gymnastics, DPR Korea)
An Chang-ok stole the show on the opening day of the gymnastics apparatus finals by taking gold in the vault and uneven bars.
The 20-year-old scored 14.049 points in the vault with an unparalleled difficulty score of 5.6 for her second routine, and won the uneven bars competition with 14.266.
An was also a member of the DPR Korea women's team that secured a bronze medal.
An's name is not well known on the world stage, but after accounting for nearly one-fifth of her country's gold medals in Hangzhou, she looks set to return to the spotlight in the future.
Hsu Hao-hung (Go, Chinese Taipei)
China's Ke Jie and South Korea's Shin Jin-seo had been tipped for glory in the Go tournament, but Chinese Taipei's Hsu Hao-hung stunned the favorites at the Hangzhou Asiad.
The 22-year-old, who was promoted to 9-dan last year, had no major international tournament results of note prior to winning gold, making his back-to-back triumphs over Shin and Ke in Hangzhou all the more remarkable.
Young, dedicated and confident, Hsu made a deep impression on the Go world at the 19th Asiad.
Pan Zhanle (swimming, China)
The Chinese swimming team reasserted its continental dominance by collecting a best-ever 28 gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
More than the medal haul, however, plenty of young athletes caught the eye, with Pan Zhanle one of the most exciting prospects.
The 19-year-old won three golds, three silvers and one bronze medal in Hangzhou, and set a new Asian record in the men's 100m freestyle — 46.97 seconds.
It was the fifth-fastest time in the event's history, and was only 0.11 seconds off Romanian David Popovici's world record.
Miyuu Kihara and Miwa Harimoto (table tennis, Japan)
Making their Asian Games debuts, 19-year-old Miyuu Kihara and 15-year-old Miwa Harimoto certainly caught the attention in Hangzhou. The teenage duo advanced to the women's doubles semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Chinese pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu.
Women's doubles is currently not an Olympic event, so Kihara and Harimoto will need to work their way into Japan's singles squad as soon as possible in order to feature at the Paris Games.
