Asian Summer Games

Publication date: 18 Aug 2023

About the Asian Summer Games

The Asian Games (Asiad) is a multi-sport competition held every 4 years among athletes from across Asia. For over forty years, the Games have been conducted under the leadership of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). After the Olympic Games, the Asian Games are considered the second largest multi-sport event. For the last four years, 45 countries have participated in the Asian Games.

Official website of the Olympic Council of Asia

2026 Asian Games

The 2026 Asian Summer Games promise to be one of the main multi-sport events in Asia and the world. This prestigious tournament, which is held under the auspices of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), brings together thousands of athletes from dozens of countries and attracts the attention of millions of spectators around the world.

When will the 2026 Asian Summer Games be held?

According to the official calendar, the 2026 Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 4. The venue will be the city of Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture in Japan, where sports facilities, transport infrastructure and volunteer programs are already being actively prepared.

This will be the 20th edition of the Games, and Japan is hosting them for the third time – previously, the Asian Games were held in Tokyo (1958) and Hiroshima (1994). The 2026 Games are expected to be organized at the highest level, using modern technologies and with an emphasis on sustainable development.

Who will participate?

More than 45 countries that are members of the Olympic Council of Asia will take part in the competition. Among the permanent and strongest participants are:

China is the undisputed leader in the number of medals at previous Games,
Japan is the host country, traditionally performing in the top 3,
South Korea is a powerful sports nation with strong positions in many disciplines,
India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Thailand are active participants who consistently win awards.

The Asian Games feature more than 40 sports, including both Olympic disciplines (athletics, swimming, gymnastics) and those unique to the region, such as kurash, kabaddi, sepak takraw and wushu. This makes the Games especially colorful and interesting for both spectators and athletes.

Why the 2026 Summer Asian Games are not to be missed?

Global scale: these are the second largest multi-sport competitions after the Olympics.
New sporting discoveries: The Games combine both Olympic and traditional Asian sports.
Preparing for Paris 2028: For many athletes, the Asian Games are a key step on the way to the Olympic Games.

History of Asiad

The history of the creation of the Asian Games began after the end of the Second World War, when several Asian countries gained their independence. The main purpose of creating a new sporting event between these countries was to strengthen relations. During the Olympic Games in 1948, the Indian Olympic Association proposed the idea of holding games between Asian countries to the sports team leaders of Asian countries.

The first Asiad was held in New Delhi in 1951. Athletes from 11 countries participated and competed in 8 sports.

Since 1986, for a number of different reasons, the Olympic Council of Asia was established to prepare and conduct the Asian Games.

Starting from 1994, some former CIS countries began to take part in the Games such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The symbol of the Asian Games is a red sun with 16 rays and a white circle in the centre.

As of today, 45 OCA member countries are eligible to participate in the Games.

In the history of the Asian Games, only 7 countries have participated in all editions of the games: India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Japan.

Medal table of the Games in previous years

The year	Venue	Results
2022	Hangzhou, China	China: gold – 201, silver – 111, bronze – 71; Japan: gold – 52, silver – 67, bronze – 69; South Korea: gold – 42, silver – 59, bronze – 89.
2018	Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia	China: 132 gold, 92 silver, 65 bronze; Japan: 75 gold, 56 silver, 74 bronze; South Korea: 49 gold, 58 silver, 70 bronze.
2014	Incheon, South Korea	China: 151 gold, 109 silver, 85 bronze; South Korea: 79 gold, 70 silver, 79 bronze; Japan: 48 gold, 74 silver, 94 bronze.