India won a record number of medals at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games – but the real test awaits at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
All 45 members affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) are eligible to participate in the Games- accept Australia and New Zealand. The 19th Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023, passing the IOC Olympic flag to Japan for the 20th games in 2026.
The Asian Games, held every four years, is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The Asia regional games are sponsored by the Olympic Council of Asia for men and women athletes from Asian countries affiliated with the International Olympic Committee.
21 traditional Sports are represented throughout the games- with unique non-traditional Olympic sports of Kurash, originating in ancient India of a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, Kabaddi, developed in Uzbekistan which has its roots in ancient forms of wrestling across Central Asia, and Xiangxi a strategy board game from China, similar to chess.
HISTORY
After WWII Asian sovereign states sought to exhibit Asian prowess without violence
1951 first Asia Games in New Delhi, India.
The Far Eastern Championship Games existed previous to the Asian Games, the former mooted in 1912 for a location set between Japan, the Philippines, and China. The inaugural Far Eastern Games were held in Manila in 1913 with 6 participating nations. There were ten Far Eastern Games held by 1934.
After World War II, several areas in Asia became sovereign states. Many of these countries sought to exhibit Asian prowess without violence. At the London 1948 Summer Olympics, a conversation started between China and the Philippines to restore the idea of the Far Eastern Games. Guru Dutt Sondhi, the Indian International Olympic Committee representative, believed that the restoration of the Far Eastern Games would sufficiently display the spirit of unity and level of achievement taking place in Asian sports. He proposed the idea of a new competition – which came to be the Asian Games.
On 13 February 1949, the Asian Athletic Federation was formally inaugurated with the first games held in New Delhi India in 195. From 1954, athletes from 11 nations participated in the inaugural games which featured six sports (association football, athletics, basketball, cycling, swimming, and weight lifting).
Milkha Singh (Oct. 17, 1935- June 18, 2021) Chandigarh, India, became the first Indian male to reach the final of an Olympic athletics event when he placed fourth in the 400-metre race at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
In 2007, the President of OCA, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, rejected the proposal to allow Australia to participate in the Games.
He stated that while Australia would add good value to the Asian Games, it would be unfair to the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC). Being members of ONOC, Australia and New Zealand have participated in the Pacific Games since 2015. This motion was mooted again in 2017 after Australia participated in the 2017 Asian Winter Games as they are in discussions to become a full Asian Games member shortly. However, the Australian Olympic Committee announced that Australia would be allowed a small contingent of athletes for the 2022 Games, as long as the qualification for Summer Olympics events such as basketball and volleyball are through the Asia-Pacific region.
There are only seven countries, namely India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Thailand, that have competed in all editions of the games.
