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17th Asian Games: Incheon 2014

2014-10-13 16:09 COC

Date: September 19 - October 4, 2014
Host City: Incheon
Country: Republic of Korea
NOCs Participating: 45
Athletes: 13,000
Sports: 36
Disciplines: 48
Events: 439
Volunteers: 2,700
Media: 7,000

With the slogan of “Diversity Shines Here”, the 17th Asian Games, held from September 19 to October 4, 2014 in Incheon, Korea, turned out to be an all-round success due to the technical, logistical and social aspects, with 14 world records, over 40 Asian records and over 80 Asian Games records rewritten on many occasions.

During the 16-day regional sports gala the Chinese Sports Delegation consisting of 897 athletes, 429 women and 468 men, collected 151 gold, 108 silver and 83 bronze medals to keep their dominance at the Asian Games for the ninth consecutive time, followed by host Korea with 79-71-84 and Japan with 47-76-77 respectively. 

Once again, Chinese divers completed a clean sweep of 10 gold medals on offer at the Asian Games after their impressive performance at Guangzhou 2010. But the nation's once all-conquering table tennis squad let one gold slip off their hands as none of the Chinese players reached the gold medal match of the mixed doubles, which was won by DPR Korean pair Kim Hyok Bong/Kim Jong. Moreover, China continue to show her strength in athletics (with 15 golds, 14 silvers and 11 bronzes), swimming (22/12/11) and shooting (27/17/6), but lost her dominant position in such sports as badminton, gymnastics and weightlifting.

On the distribution of medals, 37 of the 45 participating countries and regions from across Asia made the medal table, including 28 with a gold medal, with Bhudan, the Maldives and East Timor still having to wait for four more years to hope for their breakthrough for their first-ever medal from the Asiad.

However, the Incheon Games were not without controversy, as scoring in boxing became the perennial disputes, resulting in complaints from five countries, and Qatar's women's basketball team even pulled out without playing after their traditional headscarves, or hijabs, were banned on the court.

Furthermore, six doping cases had been detected, including two gold medal winners, one from China and the other from Malaysia. Other four were a soft tennis player from Cambodia, a Tajik footballer, an Iraqi weightlifter and a Syrian karate athlete.

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