The pressure is already on for the next co-hosts of the Asian Games as the high-tech Chinese city of Hangzhou has staged them with an impressive amount of Olympic-quality competition venues and comfortable accommodation for athletes.
The Japanese Olympic Committee hosted a reception Saturday to promote the 2026 “Asian Olympics,” which will be held in Aichi Prefecture and its capital Nagoya.
JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita, Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura and Raja Randhir Singh, acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia, were among the attendees of the reception at a hotel in Hangzhou, where the 19th Asian Games will end Sunday, as well as guests from other participating nations.
Singh gave a toast following speeches in English by Yamashita and Omura.
Raja Randhir Singh (C), acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia, makes a toast during a reception in Hangzhou, China, on Oct. 7, 2023, for the next Asian Games in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture and its capital Nagoya in 2026. (Kyodo)
“We will take over the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” Yamashita said, adding that the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will be staged in a compact and sustainable manner.
The Tokyo Olympics took place in 2021 after a one-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2026 Asian Games will be Japan’s third, following the 1958 meet in Tokyo and the 1994 meet in Hiroshima.
Organizers of the 2026 Games at one stage decided not to build the athletes’ village to reduce costs but now plan to have a small one at the request of the OCA, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“Our Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will inspire everyone,” Omura said. “We will express to the world our slogan: Imagine One Asia.”
Source : Kyodo News
