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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.

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 first Asian games were held at New Delhi in 1952,which again hosted it in 1982

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.

History

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, which led to the expansion of World War II in the Pacific.

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.

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.

Former or future countries in Asian Games until 2014. Red spot denotes the city of the Games.

The Asian NOCs decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation. A new association, named Olympic Council of Asia, was created in November 1981. 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 that the country join European competitions.

Expansion

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

In 2006 Australia was refused entry by OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah, suggesting that Australia's move from Oceania to Asia would be unfair to the smaller Oceania states.¹

List of Asian Games

Year	Games	Host City	Country	Winner (gold)	2nd (gold)	3rd (gold)
1951	I	New Delhi	India	Japan	India	Iran
1954	II	Manila	Philippines	Japan	Philippines	South Korea
1958	III	Tokyo	Japan	Japan	Philippines	South Korea
1962	IV	Jakarta	Indonesia	Japan	Indonesia	India
1966	V	Bangkok	Thailand	Japan	South Korea	Thailand
1970	VI1	Bangkok	Thailand	Japan	South Korea	Thailand
1974	VII	Tehran	Iran	Japan	Iran	China
1978	VIII2	Bangkok	Thailand	Japan	China	South Korea
1982	IX	New Delhi	India	China	Japan	South Korea
1986	X	Seoul	South Korea	China	South Korea	Japan
1990	XI	Beijing	China	China	South Korea	Japan
1994	XII	Hiroshima	Japan	China	Japan	South Korea
1998	XIII	Bangkok	Thailand	China	South Korea	Japan
2002	XIV	Busan	South Korea	China	South Korea	Japan
2006	XV	Doha	Qatar	China	South Korea	Japan
2010	XVI	Guangzhou	China	TBA	TBA	TBA
2014	XVII	Incheon	South Korea	TBA	TBA	TBA

¹ Originally to be hosted by South Korea
² Originally to be hosted by Pakistan

Sports

See also

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

References