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Asian Games (Asiad)

The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a significant multi-sport event held every four years, showcasing athletic talent from across Asia and the Middle East. Celebrated as one of the world's premier sporting festivals, second only to the Olympics, the Games emphasize Asian identity and regional cooperation. Since their inception in 1951, the Asian Games have expanded to include a diverse array of sports, combining traditional Olympic events with unique regional sports such as sepak takraw and kabaddi. The inaugural event featured 489 athletes from 11 nations and has since grown to attract thousands of participants. Historically, countries like China, Japan, and South Korea have shown strong performances, collectively earning thousands of medals. The Games have also evolved to adapt to modern sporting interests, introducing new sports like eSports and welcoming participation from Oceania nations starting in 2022. Overall, the Asian Games serve as a platform for cultural exchange, athletic excellence, and regional pride, reflecting Asia's growing influence on the global stage.

Full Article

The Asian Games (Asiad) are a continental multi-sport athletic event held every four years in locations across Asia and the Middle East. Considered the world’s best-known competitive sports event after the Olympics, the Asian Games are widely viewed as a celebration of Asian identity and a meaningful representation of Asia’s political and economic influence on the global stage. Numerous athletes from across Asia are invited to participate in the Asian Games, which feature a lineup of competitions including traditional Olympic sports and an array of unique regional sports. Since the opening of the first Asiad in 1951, the Asian Games have grown into one of the largest sporting festivals of its kind anywhere in the world.

The Games continue to expand, as well. In 2019, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that nations from Oceania would be invited to send athletes, particularly in team sports, to compete in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Although invited, both Australia and New Zealand declined the invitation to send athletes to the Hangzhou Games. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Games to be postponed by a year, and they were ultimately held in 2023. Throughout the history of the Games, China, Japan, and South Korea have dominated the medal standings, with each country earning more than two thousand medals, and China leading by a wide margin.

Background

The Asian Games evolved out of several earlier attempts to establish a permanent Pan-Asian competitive sports event. The first and most notable of these efforts resulted in the creation of the Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. The inaugural edition was staged in Manila, the Philippines, and featured athletes from China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Siam, and Hong Kong. Thereafter, the games were held every two to four years and eventually began to expand with the inclusion of delegations from India and Indonesia in the 1930s. The last games were once again held in Manila in 1934. Another competition was originally planned for 1938, but it was canceled due to rising political tension between China and Japan.

Another attempt to create a Pan-Asian sports competition got off the ground just as the Far Eastern Championship Games were winding down. The Western Asiatic Games debuted in Delhi, India, in 1934. Designed as a potential replacement for the Far Eastern Championship Games, the Western Asiatic Games featured athletes from India, Ceylon, Afghanistan, and Mandatory Palestine. A second iteration of these games was initially scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv, but plans were eventually scrapped due to political conflict. Like its processor, the Western Asiatic Games also met a premature end.

Interest in a Pan-Asian sports event was revived in the years following World War II (1939–45). At a 1947 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Indian representative Guru Dutt Sondhi suggested the idea for what would become the Asian Games. During the 1948 London Olympic Games, Sondhi met with the representatives of other Asian nations and laid the groundwork for the Asian Games. The following year, he and his associates met again in New Delhi and created an organizing body called the Asian Games Federation. Under the federation's direction, the inaugural Asian Games were originally planned to take place in February 1950. Although planning challenges forced organizers to delay the event’s debut until March 1951, the Asian Games were officially born.

Overview

The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi in March 1951. A total of 489 athletes from Afghanistan, Burma, Ceylon, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand competed in twelve different sports. In a trend that would continue until the 1980s, Japan dominated the games and took home twenty-four gold, twenty-one silver, and fifteen bronze medals. The subsequent opening of the second Asiad in Manila in 1954 formally established a four-year cycle that neatly placed the Asian Games in the middle of the Olympic schedule.

Although well-received, the Asian Games still faced early challenges that threatened the endeavor’s survival. The greatest challenge came as a result of clashes with Indonesian President Sukarno in the 1960s. Sukarno successfully campaigned to stage the 1962 Asian Games in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, but soon created controversy when he banned Israeli and Taiwanese athletes from competing as a way of appeasing Middle Eastern and Chinese allies. While efforts to move the games in reaction to this decision fell short, Indonesia’s subsequent removal from the IOC led Sukarno to partner with China in creating the Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO). The first GANEFO event took place in Jakarta in 1963. The second was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in direct competition with the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games. When the GANEFO folded shortly thereafter, the Asian Games were cemented as the only permanent Pan-Asian athletic competition.

The Asian Games have been held regularly every four years since the schedule was established in 1954. The specific sports featured at the Asian Games have varied and evolved. The original 1951 games featured only a small list of sports that included athletics, basketball, cycling, diving, soccer, swimming, water polo, and weightlifting. Numerous additional sports have been added over time. Most of the sports featured at the Asian Games align with those in the Olympics and include disciplines such as boxing, gymnastics, and wrestling. The Asian Games also feature several unique regional sports. Included among these are sepak takraw and kabaddi. Sepak takraw is a Southeast Asian game played with wicker or rattan balls that resembles a form of kick volleyball. Kabaddi is an Indian contact sport in which a player from the attacking side attempts to tag as many defensive players as possible while holding his or her breath. Sports are also occasionally dropped from or added to the Asian Games roster. Bodybuilding, for example, was added in 2002 and subsequently dropped after 2006. In 2019, it was announced that cricket would return to the Asiad at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China—held in 2023 due to a delay from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, eSports was introduced as a demonstration sport, though it was uncertain whether it would be added as a permanent full-time sport. It was featured in the 2023 games in China and announced as a medal event in the 2026 games in Japan.

The list of nations that participate in the Asian Games has also varied over time. The only countries that have competed in each iteration of the Asiad include Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In addition to those located in Asia proper, some Middle Eastern nations, such as Israel, also participate in the games. Beginning in 2022, the nations of Oceania would also be able to send athletes to compete as guests in some team sports at future Asiads. Notably, guest competitors are not eligible to win medals, as their participation is intended to raise the competitive standard and foster cooperation between Asia and Oceania.

The 2026 Asian Games will be hosted by Japan, marking the third time Japan has hosted the Games. The Games will feature approximately 460 events across forty-one sports and are expected to draw delegations from all forty-five National Olympic Committees affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia. Mixed martial arts (MMA) will make its debut at the 2026 Games, and cricket will be reinstated. Cricket was last included in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea, and was excluded from the 2018 Games in Jakarta–Palembang and the 2022 Games in Hangzhou—held in 2023.


Bibliography

“Asian Games: A Brief History.” India Today, 14 Aug. 2018, www.indiatoday.in/sports/asian-games-2018/story/asian-games-a-brief-history-1314241-2018-08-14. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Hangzhou 2022 Sends Official Invitations to NOCs with 400 Days to Go ." Olympic Council of Asia, 6 Aug. 2021, oca.asia/news/2218-hangzhou-2022-sends-official-invitations-to-nocs-with-400-days-to-go.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

“History of Asian Games.” Inside the Games, www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1059784/history-of-asian-games. Accessed 1 May 2024.

“Infographic: A Brief History of Asian Games.” Inquirer, 14 Aug. 2018, sports.inquirer.net/314895/infographic-brief-history-asian-games. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Lavalette, Tristan. “Cricket Set for Asian Games Return in 2022 Fueling Olympic Hope for the Sport.” Forbes, 5 Mar. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/tristanlavalette/2019/03/05/cricket-set-for-asian-games-return-in-2022-fueling-olympic-hope-for-the-sport/#11ecbff3444f. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Mixed Martial Arts to Make Asian Games Debut at Nagoya ." Reuters, 3 Apr. 2025, www.reuters.com/sports/cricket/mixed-martial-arts-make-asian-games-debut-nagoya-2025-04-30/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

"OCA Executive Board Approves Sports Programme for 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya ." Asian National Olympic Committee, 17 July 2025, www.anocolympic.org/olympic-movement/oca-executive-board-approves-sports-programme-for-20th-asian-games-in-aichi-nagoya. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Pitts, Andre. "Cricket to Return at Asian Games 2026; Eight Women’s and 10 Men’s Teams to Compete ." International Olympic Committee, 24 July 2025, www.olympics.com/en/news/cricket-included-asian-games-2026. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Ransom, Ian. "Australia, New Zealand Not Sending Athletes to Asian Games ." Reuters, 26 Apr. 2022, www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/australia-new-zealand-not-sending-athletes-asian-games-2022-04-26/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Selvaraj, Jonathan. “eSports And the Asian Games—The Future Is Now.” ESPN, 31 Aug. 2018, www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/24541395/esports-asian-games-future-now. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

“2022 Asian Games to Include Athletes from Oceania.” USA Today, 4 Mar. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2019/03/04/2022-asian-games-to-include-athletes-from-oceania/39147031. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Wade, Stephen. “Asian Games Offer a Few Sports You May Not Recognize. How About Kabaddi, Sepaktakraw, and Wushu?” Associated Press, 21 Sept. 2023, apnews.com/article/asian-games-different-sports-china-e9aaf9f97f22ea9d5c301e3162d1b923. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Full Article

The Asian Games (Asiad) are a continental multi-sport athletic event held every four years in locations across Asia and the Middle East. Considered the world’s best-known competitive sports event after the Olympics, the Asian Games are widely viewed as a celebration of Asian identity and a meaningful representation of Asia’s political and economic influence on the global stage. Numerous athletes from across Asia are invited to participate in the Asian Games, which feature a lineup of competitions including traditional Olympic sports and an array of unique regional sports. Since the opening of the first Asiad in 1951, the Asian Games have grown into one of the largest sporting festivals of its kind anywhere in the world.

The Games continue to expand, as well. In 2019, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that nations from Oceania would be invited to send athletes, particularly in team sports, to compete in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Although invited, both Australia and New Zealand declined the invitation to send athletes to the Hangzhou Games. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Games to be postponed by a year, and they were ultimately held in 2023. Throughout the history of the Games, China, Japan, and South Korea have dominated the medal standings, with each country earning more than two thousand medals, and China leading by a wide margin.

Background

The Asian Games evolved out of several earlier attempts to establish a permanent Pan-Asian competitive sports event. The first and most notable of these efforts resulted in the creation of the Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. The inaugural edition was staged in Manila, the Philippines, and featured athletes from China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Siam, and Hong Kong. Thereafter, the games were held every two to four years and eventually began to expand with the inclusion of delegations from India and Indonesia in the 1930s. The last games were once again held in Manila in 1934. Another competition was originally planned for 1938, but it was canceled due to rising political tension between China and Japan.

Another attempt to create a Pan-Asian sports competition got off the ground just as the Far Eastern Championship Games were winding down. The Western Asiatic Games debuted in Delhi, India, in 1934. Designed as a potential replacement for the Far Eastern Championship Games, the Western Asiatic Games featured athletes from India, Ceylon, Afghanistan, and Mandatory Palestine. A second iteration of these games was initially scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv, but plans were eventually scrapped due to political conflict. Like its processor, the Western Asiatic Games also met a premature end.

Interest in a Pan-Asian sports event was revived in the years following World War II (1939–45). At a 1947 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Indian representative Guru Dutt Sondhi suggested the idea for what would become the Asian Games. During the 1948 London Olympic Games, Sondhi met with the representatives of other Asian nations and laid the groundwork for the Asian Games. The following year, he and his associates met again in New Delhi and created an organizing body called the Asian Games Federation. Under the federation's direction, the inaugural Asian Games were originally planned to take place in February 1950. Although planning challenges forced organizers to delay the event’s debut until March 1951, the Asian Games were officially born.

Overview

The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi in March 1951. A total of 489 athletes from Afghanistan, Burma, Ceylon, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand competed in twelve different sports. In a trend that would continue until the 1980s, Japan dominated the games and took home twenty-four gold, twenty-one silver, and fifteen bronze medals. The subsequent opening of the second Asiad in Manila in 1954 formally established a four-year cycle that neatly placed the Asian Games in the middle of the Olympic schedule.

Although well-received, the Asian Games still faced early challenges that threatened the endeavor’s survival. The greatest challenge came as a result of clashes with Indonesian President Sukarno in the 1960s. Sukarno successfully campaigned to stage the 1962 Asian Games in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, but soon created controversy when he banned Israeli and Taiwanese athletes from competing as a way of appeasing Middle Eastern and Chinese allies. While efforts to move the games in reaction to this decision fell short, Indonesia’s subsequent removal from the IOC led Sukarno to partner with China in creating the Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO). The first GANEFO event took place in Jakarta in 1963. The second was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in direct competition with the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games. When the GANEFO folded shortly thereafter, the Asian Games were cemented as the only permanent Pan-Asian athletic competition.

The Asian Games have been held regularly every four years since the schedule was established in 1954. The specific sports featured at the Asian Games have varied and evolved. The original 1951 games featured only a small list of sports that included athletics, basketball, cycling, diving, soccer, swimming, water polo, and weightlifting. Numerous additional sports have been added over time. Most of the sports featured at the Asian Games align with those in the Olympics and include disciplines such as boxing, gymnastics, and wrestling. The Asian Games also feature several unique regional sports. Included among these are sepak takraw and kabaddi. Sepak takraw is a Southeast Asian game played with wicker or rattan balls that resembles a form of kick volleyball. Kabaddi is an Indian contact sport in which a player from the attacking side attempts to tag as many defensive players as possible while holding his or her breath. Sports are also occasionally dropped from or added to the Asian Games roster. Bodybuilding, for example, was added in 2002 and subsequently dropped after 2006. In 2019, it was announced that cricket would return to the Asiad at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China—held in 2023 due to a delay from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, eSports was introduced as a demonstration sport, though it was uncertain whether it would be added as a permanent full-time sport. It was featured in the 2023 games in China and announced as a medal event in the 2026 games in Japan.

The list of nations that participate in the Asian Games has also varied over time. The only countries that have competed in each iteration of the Asiad include Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In addition to those located in Asia proper, some Middle Eastern nations, such as Israel, also participate in the games. Beginning in 2022, the nations of Oceania would also be able to send athletes to compete as guests in some team sports at future Asiads. Notably, guest competitors are not eligible to win medals, as their participation is intended to raise the competitive standard and foster cooperation between Asia and Oceania.

The 2026 Asian Games will be hosted by Japan, marking the third time Japan has hosted the Games. The Games will feature approximately 460 events across forty-one sports and are expected to draw delegations from all forty-five National Olympic Committees affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia. Mixed martial arts (MMA) will make its debut at the 2026 Games, and cricket will be reinstated. Cricket was last included in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea, and was excluded from the 2018 Games in Jakarta–Palembang and the 2022 Games in Hangzhou—held in 2023.


Bibliography

“Asian Games: A Brief History.” India Today, 14 Aug. 2018, www.indiatoday.in/sports/asian-games-2018/story/asian-games-a-brief-history-1314241-2018-08-14. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Hangzhou 2022 Sends Official Invitations to NOCs with 400 Days to Go ." Olympic Council of Asia, 6 Aug. 2021, oca.asia/news/2218-hangzhou-2022-sends-official-invitations-to-nocs-with-400-days-to-go.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

“History of Asian Games.” Inside the Games, www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1059784/history-of-asian-games. Accessed 1 May 2024.

“Infographic: A Brief History of Asian Games.” Inquirer, 14 Aug. 2018, sports.inquirer.net/314895/infographic-brief-history-asian-games. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Lavalette, Tristan. “Cricket Set for Asian Games Return in 2022 Fueling Olympic Hope for the Sport.” Forbes, 5 Mar. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/tristanlavalette/2019/03/05/cricket-set-for-asian-games-return-in-2022-fueling-olympic-hope-for-the-sport/#11ecbff3444f. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Mixed Martial Arts to Make Asian Games Debut at Nagoya ." Reuters, 3 Apr. 2025, www.reuters.com/sports/cricket/mixed-martial-arts-make-asian-games-debut-nagoya-2025-04-30/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

"OCA Executive Board Approves Sports Programme for 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya ." Asian National Olympic Committee, 17 July 2025, www.anocolympic.org/olympic-movement/oca-executive-board-approves-sports-programme-for-20th-asian-games-in-aichi-nagoya. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Pitts, Andre. "Cricket to Return at Asian Games 2026; Eight Women’s and 10 Men’s Teams to Compete ." International Olympic Committee, 24 July 2025, www.olympics.com/en/news/cricket-included-asian-games-2026. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Ransom, Ian. "Australia, New Zealand Not Sending Athletes to Asian Games ." Reuters, 26 Apr. 2022, www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/australia-new-zealand-not-sending-athletes-asian-games-2022-04-26/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2025.

Selvaraj, Jonathan. “eSports And the Asian Games—The Future Is Now.” ESPN, 31 Aug. 2018, www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/24541395/esports-asian-games-future-now. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

“2022 Asian Games to Include Athletes from Oceania.” USA Today, 4 Mar. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2019/03/04/2022-asian-games-to-include-athletes-from-oceania/39147031. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Wade, Stephen. “Asian Games Offer a Few Sports You May Not Recognize. How About Kabaddi, Sepaktakraw, and Wushu?” Associated Press, 21 Sept. 2023, apnews.com/article/asian-games-different-sports-china-e9aaf9f97f22ea9d5c301e3162d1b923. Accessed 1 May 2024.

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