Asian Games close in Japan after records, rancour and rain
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- The Asian Games in Japan featured record-breaking young athletes like 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi and 17-year-old Shin Ohashi, but faced rain and low spectator turnout.
- Organisers faced criticism for cramped accommodation, transport issues, and errors like playing the wrong national anthem, with officials admitting multiple problems but aiming to host more events.
- Japan finished second in medals with 83 golds; new sports debuted, and 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara became the youngest Games champion by winning eSports.
AI generated
NAGOYA, Japan – The Asian Games in Japan closed on Oct 4 after a fortnight lit up by record-smashing young stars but marred by mishaps, mediocre crowds and accusations of mismanagement.
More than 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics, descended on Nagoya and Aichi prefecture for the continent’s premier sporting spectacular.
Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi, just 13, stole the show with three gold medals, all in Games-record times.
She looks set to be a major medal threat at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
She was named a Games MVP (most valuable player) to cap an extraordinary showing that saw her scorch to gold in the 200m butterfly and do the 200m-400m individual medley double.
For all that, the shy teenager said: “I don’t think I am what people describe as a prodigy.”
Also in the pool, Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi, only 17, smashed the men’s 200m breaststroke world record to delight the home crowd.
In athletics, where rain tumbled down over several days, the 20-year-old Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson did the 100m-200m double and was named men’s MVP.
On a dry evening, a celebratory closing ceremony full of colour and song saw Japan hand over hosting duties to Doha 2030.
Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani passing on the torch to Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during the closing ceremony. Doha will host the Games in 2030.
PHOTO: REUTERS
‘Failure grade’
Top officials were on the defensive up until the last minute.
Olympic Council of Asia director-general Husain Al-Musallam said “numbers are facts”, pointing to 50 world records broken at the Games after they opened on Sept 19.
“The athletes cannot perform if they don’t sleep good, the athletes cannot perform if they don’t have good transportation,” he said.
This 20th edition of the Games, which were first contested in 1951, did not have a traditional athletes’ village in a bid to save money.
Instead, participants were housed in wooden temporary units, on the Costa Serena cruise ship and in hotels.
Organisers said this was a template for future multi-sports events.
But it came with issues, with some teams complaining the units were too cramped and the beds too short.
More than that, the ballooning numbers of athletes and officials meant there were not enough beds for everyone.
One Thai Olympic official said it was “like musical chairs” trying to get somewhere to sleep.
The sport, including a blockbuster cricket final won by India against arch-rivals Pakistan, did sometimes shine through.
North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum, a 140cm pocket powerhouse, set three new world marks in one day for gold.
Robotic arms with flags at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, on Oct 4.
PHOTO: AFP
But problems kept coming, including organisers playing North Korea’s national anthem for the South Korean hockey team.
There were athletes’ buses that did not turn up when they should, or did not arrive at all.
Two teams were sent to the wrong venue, delaying a volleyball match.
“If I were to give them a grade, it would be an F,” said Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee.
Games organisers were on the back foot as well over attendances, with the opening ceremony taking place in front of thousands of empty seats.
At the women’s football semi-final between hosts Japan and South Korea, there were 998 spectators in a 50,000 stadium.
Boy history-maker
Japan’s tally included gold for Yuki Kurihara, who won an eSports competition at the age of 11, making him the youngest Games champion in history.
PHOTO: AFP
Japanese Olympic Committee president Seiko Hashimoto admitted that “there were many problems”, but said the country wants to host more international events in future.
She said bad weather had turned some spectators off, but was eager to point out that some sports were well attended.
About 30,000 saw South Korea beat Japan 1-0 to clinch the men’s football gold medal, although the occasion was tarnished somewhat when the South Korean flag failed to go up in the victory ceremony.
The hosts finished with 83 golds, a distant second in the medals table behind China with 169.
Japan’s tally included gold for Yuki Kurihara, who won an eSports competition at the age of 11, making him the youngest Games champion in history.
Several sports with ambitions of making the Olympics made their debut, including padel, mixed martial arts and virtual taekwondo. AFP