Asian Games

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The Asian Games, also called the Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Medals are awarded in each event, with gold for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition which started in 1951. The Asian Games are dominated by the People's Republic of China.

Competitors are entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to represent their country of citizenship. National anthems and flags accompany the medal ceremonies, and tables showing the number of medals won by each country are widely used. In general only recognised nations are represented, but a few non-sovereign countries are allowed to take part. The special case of Taiwan was handled by having it compete as Chinese Taipei, due to the political status of Taiwan.

The 15th Asian Games were held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to December 15, 2006. The 16th Asian Games will be held in Guangzhou, China from November 12, 2010 to November 27, 2010.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Far Eastern Championship Games 1.2 Formation of the Asian Games 1.3 Reorganization of the Federation 1.4 Central Asian Expansion 2 List of Asian Games 3 List of sports 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Far Eastern Championship Games

Main article: Far Eastern Championship Games

The Asian Games owes its origins to small Asian multi-sport competitions. The Far Eastern Championship Games were created to show unity and cooperation among three nations: Empire of Japan, the Philippine Islands and the Republic of China. The first games were held in Manila in 1913. Other Asian nations participated after it was organized. It was discontinued in 1938 when Japan invaded China and consequently annexed the Philippines which led to the expansion of World War II in the Pacific.

[edit] Formation of the Asian Games

After World War II, a number of Asian countries became independent. Many of the new independent Asian countries wanted to use a new type of competition where Asian dominance should not be shown by violence and should be strengthened by mutual understanding. In August 1948, during the 14th Olympic Games in London, Indian IOC representative Guru Dutt Sondhi proposed to sports leaders of the Asian teams the idea of having discussions about holding the Asian Games. They agreed to form the Asian Athletic Federation. A preparatory committee was set up to draft the charter for the Asian amateur athletic federation. In February, 1949, the Asian athletic federation was formally formed and used the name Asian Games Federation. It was decided to hold the first Asian Games in 1951 in New Delhi, the capital of India. They added that the Asian Games would be regularly held once every four years.

[edit] Reorganization of the Federation

In 1962, the Federation had a disagreement over the inclusion of Republic of China and Israel. Asian Games host Indonesia opposed the participation of Republic of China (due to the existence of People's Republic of China) and Israel. In 1970, South Korea dropped its plan to host the games due to security threats from North Korea, forcing previous host Thailand to administer the games in Bangkok using the funds of South Korea. In 1973, the Federation had another disagreement after U.S. and other countries formally recognized the People's Republic of China and Arab nations' opposition to Israel. In 1977, Pakistan dropped its plan to host the games due to conflicts with Bangladesh and India. Thailand offered to help and the games were held in Bangkok.

Due to events happened, the Asian NOCs decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation. A new association, named Olympic Council of Asia, was created. India was already scheduled to host the 1982 Games and OCA decided not to drop the old AGF timetable. OCA formally supervised the games starting from the 1986 Asian Games in South Korea.

In the succeeding games, Taiwan (Republic of China) was readmitted but OCA decided to follow the standards of the IOC for Taiwan to use the name Chinese Taipei. The OCA also agreed to permanently exclude Israel as its member and requested the country to join into European competitions.

[edit] Central Asian Expansion

In the 1994 Asian Games, despite opposition from other nations, OCA admitted the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.

[edit] List of Asian Games

Year	Games	Host City	Country
1951	I	New Delhi	India
1954	II	Manila	Philippines
1958	III	Tokyo	Japan
1962	IV	Jakarta	Indonesia
1966	V	Bangkok	Thailand
1970	VI 1	Bangkok	Thailand
1974	VII	Tehran	Iran
1978	VIII 2	Bangkok	Thailand
1982	IX	New Delhi	India
1986	X	Seoul	South Korea
1990	XI	Beijing	China
1994	XII	Hiroshima	Japan
1998	XIII	Bangkok	Thailand
2002	XIV	Busan	South Korea
2006	XV	Doha	Qatar
2010	XVI	Guangzhou	China
2014	XVII

¹ Originally hosted by South Korea
² Originally hosted by Pakistan

[edit] List of sports

These are the sports that have been and will be played at the Asian Games, with the years they played.

Athletics – All Archery – since 1978 Badminton – since 1962 Baseball – since 1994 Basketball – All Billiards & Snooker – since 1998 Bodybuilding – since 2002 Bowling – 1978, since 1986 Boxing – since 1954 Canoeing – since 1982 Chess – 2006 Cycling – 1951, since 1958 Equestrian – since 1982 Fencing – 1974 to 1978, since 1986

Football – All Golf – since 1982 Gymnastics – since 1974 Handball – since 1982 Hockey – since 1958 Judo – since 1986 Kabaddi – since 1990 Karatedo – since 1994 Modern Pentathlon – 1994, 2002 Rowing – since 1990 Rugby – since 1998 Sailing – since 1978 Sepak Takraw – since 1990

Squash – since 1998 Shooting – since 1954 Softball – since 1990 Soft tennis – since 1994 Swimming – All Table tennis – since 1958 Taekwondo – since 1986 Tennis – since 1958 Triathlon – 2006 Volleyball – since 1958 Weightlifting – 1951 to 1958, 1966, since 1974 Wrestling – since 1954 Wushu – since 1994 Yachting – 1986

The whole Asian community is gearing up for the Asian Games 2006 torch relay. Known to be the most effective means of binding nations through sports, the torch relay of any event is of huge significance to the being of that event.

Quite a few sportspersons and aficionados believe a successful torch relay in Asian Games 2006 will spell phenomenal success for the event.

The design of the torch to be relayed is simple. Inspired by the horns of Orry, the mascot of Asian Games 2006, the torch bears the white and maroon colors of the Qatari flag.

The white illumination contains the emblem of the 15th Asian Games and the maroon portion is embedded with the logo of the Olympic Council of Asia. The sun icon also forms a part of the top of the torch.

The Asian Games 2006 Torch Relay ceremony kicks off with a lighting ceremony in Doha on 8th of October, 2006. This particular torch relay will be the longest in the history of the Games. The 15th Asian Games torch will be carried to 15 countries and regions in about 50 days.

The Asian Games 2006 torch will travel more than 50,000 kilometers and will be carried by 3500 torchbearers in participating countries of Asian Games 2006.

Every former Asian Games host country will participate in the relay. The torch will be carried through China, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Iran, Korea, Japan, and the gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE. The list of torchbearers will be announced in September 2006 by the respective countries. The theme of the Asian Games 2006 torch relay is 'Share the Flame, Unite People, Create Friendships'.

At the end of its journey in a particular country, the Asian Games 2006 torch relay will be commemorated by celebrations in that city. Marked by performances by Qatari and local artistes, these festivities will denote the spirit and enthusiasm associated with the Games.

Journeying across air, sea and land, the Doha Asian Games torch relay will be conducted on all possible means of transport, including trains, camels, horses, bicycles, boats, et al.

The torch relay will be concluded during the opening ceremony of the Asian Games 2006 on the 1st of December. The final torchbearer will carry the torch into the Khalifa Stadium, the venue for the opening ceremony, and thus declare the event open.

[edit] See also

• Asian Winter Games
• Asian Indoor Games
• Asian Beach Games
• Asian Games medal count

[edit] External links

• 2006 Asian Games Doha Official Website
• 2010 Asian Games Guangzhou Offical Website
• Olympic Council of Asia

Far Eastern Championship Games

Manila 1913 | Shanghai 1915 | Tokyo 1917 | Manila 1919 | Shanghai 1921 | Osaka 1923 | Manila 1925 | Shanghai 1927 | Tokyo 1930 | Manila 1934 | Osaka 1938 (cancelled)

Asian Games

New Delhi 1951 | Manila 1954 | Tokyo 1958 | Jakarta 1962 | Bangkok 1966 | Bangkok 1970 | Tehran 1974 | Bangkok 1978 | New Delhi 1982 | Seoul 1986 | Beijing 1990 | Hiroshima 1994 | Bangkok 1998 | Busan 2002 | Doha 2006 | Guangzhou 2010 | 2014

Asian Winter Games

Sapporo 1986 | Sapporo 1990 | Harbin 1996 | Kangwon 1999 | Aomori 2003 | Changchun 2007 | Almaty 2011

Asian Indoor Games

Bangkok 2005 | Macau 2007 | Hanoi 2009 | 2011

Asian Beach Games

Bali 2008

Asian Regional Games

Central Asian Games | East Asian Games | South Asian Games | Southeast Asian Games | West Asian Games