HANGZHOU, China – The Asian Games closed their 16-day run on Sunday on the 80,000-seat Olympic Sports Center Stadium with host nation China once more in command as Premier Li Qiang ended a present aimed partly at successful the hearts of Asian neighbors.
They’re formally known as the Asian Games, however the extra correct description could be the ‘China Games,’ illustrative of the nation’s four-decade domination of the continental, multi-sports championships.
The nineteenth Asian Games – they started in 1951 in New Delhi, India – have been a celebration for Hangzhou, a metropolis of 10 million, the headquarters of Alibaba and a sprawling metropolis overshadowed by a fair bigger metropolis – neighboring Shanghai.
“We have achieved the goal of a streamlined, safe and spectacular games,” spokesperson Xu Deqing stated on Sunday. State media reported the spending to arrange for the video games at roughly $30 billion.
Vinod Kumar Tiwari, the performing common secretary of the Olympic Council of Asia, known as them “by far the largest ever Asian Games.’
The secretary general of the organizing committee, Chen Weiqiang, characterized this version of the Asian Games as a “branding” campaign for Hangzhou.
“The metropolis of Hangzhou has been essentially modified,” he said. “It is truthful to say the Asian Games are a key driver for the takeoff of town.”
These were bigger than any previous Asian Games with almost 12,500 competitors. Next year’s Paris Olympic will have about 10,500, similar to the Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the forecast for 2026 when the games move to Nagoya, Japan.
One of the few records China didn’t break this time was its overall medal haul of 416 when the 2010 Asian Games took place in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
This time, China won 201 gold medals and 383 overall. The next two teams – Asian powers Japan and South Korea – had fewer overall medals combined than China. Of course, their combined population is about one-eighth of China’s.
Gold medalist Team China celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony for the team free routine artistic swimming at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Oct. 8, 2023.
Japan won 52 gold, and South Korea 42. Combined, this was less than half of China’s gold total.
Twelve of the 45 nations or territories that entered had five medals or fewer and four – Bhutan, Maldives, Yemen, and Macao – failed to win a single medal.
“How can we charge the efficiency of the Hangzhou Asian Games?” Wei Jizhong, the 87-year-old vice chairman of the Olympic Council of Asia, requested rhetorically in a news convention.
“We don’t rank Asian Games against others. But in terms of hosting games in China, let’s compare them with ourselves. I will give a 99 score. I always believe there is room for further improvement.”
The video games supplied all the standard Olympic sports activities, and likewise a glimpse of 1 sport that is previewing subsequent 12 months in Paris – breaking, or breakdancing. And one other, cricket, which might be included in both the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, or in 2032 in Brisbane.
Esports was a official entry for the primary time, and an enormous favourite. Esports shouldn’t be within the Olympics but, however the IOC is attempting to determine a solution to capitalize on its mammoth income stream.
The video games showcased so-called “mind sports” like chess and conract bridge, and supplied some distinctive entries you will not see anyplace else in a multi-sports occasion: dragon boat racing, kabaddi, sepaktakraw (foot volleyball), 3×3 basketball, and curler skating.
Yasuhiro Nakamori, the performing director common for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games, stated Japan would construct solely two new venues, unwilling to splurge because it did for the current Tokyo Olympics.
Hangzhou is reported to have constructed 56 sports activities amenities and 30 coaching websites in addition to main infrastructure investments for the video games, which have been delayed a 12 months by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nakamori stated the Chinese “hardware was wonderful. We can’t pretend those kind of games. Our concept is to use existing venues.”
He said the two new venues that were being built are a stadium and an arena. In addition, Nagoya will use the swimming and diving venue in Tokyo built for the 2020 Olympics, and will hold cycling and equestrian events near Tokyo.
“That means we’ve got to work on the software program and folks energy,” he added. ‘For our side it is a disadvantage because we lose one year, especially for the marketing activity.”
Chen, the secretary common of the native organizing committee, was requested if Hangzhou would take into account an Olympic bid.
“The venues are suitable to hold large, multi-sport event like the Olympics,” Chen stated. ‘After the shut of the Asian Games, what we deal with is how the venues could be extensively utilized by the individuals. But we have not considered whether or not we might maintain the Olympic Games.”