The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced the new dates for the 19th Asian Games 2022, which will now be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, 2023.
The 19th Asian Games was originally planned to be held in Hangzhou from September 10-25 2022, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Games were postponed by the OCA Executive Board (EB) on May 6, 2022, and a 'Task Force' was created by the EB to finalise the new dates for the Games.
The aforementioned Task Force, over the last two months, held various discussions with the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC), and other stakeholders to find a window for the Games that did not conflict with other major international sporting events. The recommended dates were duly approved by the OCA EB.
"The OCA thanks HAGOC, the Chinese Olympic Committee, as well as the Governments at all levels for their hard work in preparing for the Games during the pandemic and ensuring they can take place next year. The OCA would also like to express its appreciation for the patience shown by the National Olympic Committees and International Federation/Asian Federations and other stakeholders.
The OCA looks forward to celebrating the best Asian Games ever in Hangzhou in September 2023," the official statement read.
Earlier, the OCA had postponed the Asian games after the host city of Hangzhou went under lockdown as part of the ruling Communist Party's zero-tolerance approach to the virus. Organisers said in April that Hangzhou, a city of 12 million in eastern China, had finished constructing some 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games, which were initially to be held in September.
The plan was to hold the Asian Games under a virus control plan that 'was learned from the successful experience of the Beijing Winter Olympics,' which was in February in a Covid-secure bubble.
The event is slated to host all 45 National Olympic Committees that are members of the OCA. The OCA also announced plans to invite athletes from countries from Oceania to compete in selected events, which would mark their first participation in the Summer Asian Games, having participated in the 2017 Asian Winter Games for the first time. Australia and New Zealand decided not to send athletes this time around due to the threat of the Covid pandemic.
The last Asian Games were held in Jakarta, Indonesia. China led the medal tally for the tenth straight time. Six worlds, 18 Asian, and 86 Asian Games records were broken during the Games, while Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was announced as the most valuable player.
It was also India's best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games, winning a massive 69 medals — 15 gold, 24 silver, and 30 bronze — to surpass the medal count from the 2010 Games (65) in Guangzhou, China.
