2014 Asian Games

The cost of the Games was estimated at approximately US$1.62 billion, with the Korean government and Incheon government covering 19% and 78.9% respectively. Of the total budget, some US$1.39 billion was used for the construction of venue and infrastructure, while approximately US$11 million covered the building and maintenance of training grounds. Around US$103 million was allocated for road and transportation projects.[17]

However, a report in April 2012 suggested the city was under pressure on its financial due to increasing debt.[18]

The Incheon Asian Games Organising Committee (IAGOC) saved US$34 million after agreeing to reduce from 15,000 to 2,025 athletes to be provided free of charge for transportation and accommodation.[19]

Volunteering programme of Incheon 2014 Asian Games began on 1 November 2013 with target of 13,500 volunteers being set. As of 16 March 2014, 25,827 applications were received and 21,237 applicants were selected for training.[20]

The torch relay during opening ceremony. South Korean athletes Inbee Park move fire to Lee Seung-yuop

The torch was revealed in October 2013, with the design motif based on the official bird of Incheon Metropolitan City, the Crane, with the blue internal cylinder of torch signifying the sky and the ocean of Incheon. Another four colors (green, yellow, red, violet) were designed to represent the five regions of Asia.[21]

The torch was lit at Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, India on August 9, 2014. This marked the first time the torch was lit outside the host country.[22] For the first time also, the Games hosted by South Korea's city to have international torch relay as Weihai, a city in Shandong province of the People's Republic of China, was only the another city hosted the torch relay on August 12, 2014.[23][24]

The domestic lighting ceremony was held at Manisan on Ganghwa Island on August 12, 2014.[25] The domestic relay begin from August 13, 2014 and travel through 70 cities for 5,700 km until the opening ceremony.[26]

The official emblem was also revealed on the same day, represented by a wing consisting of a string of the letter "A", for "Asia", with a shining sun at its upper left, symbolizing the Asian people holding hands in the sky.[27]

The Spotted Seals, the Games' mascots. Named from left to right: Barame, Vichuon and Chumuro. The mascot statues situated at the Incheon Asiad Park.

The image of the mascots.

Three Spotted seal siblings were unveiled on November 4, 2010 as the official mascots of the Games in Songdo Island, Incheon. The three seals, known as "Barame (바라메)", "Chumuro (추므로)" and "Vichuon (비추온)", meaning wind, dance and light in Korean, were chosen in accordance with the theme of the main venue. The prototype was taken from Baengnyeongdo. According to the organizers, the mascots were chosen as symbolic to the future peace between South Korea and North Korea.[27][28]

The medal design was approved by OCA on August 19, 2013. It features a pentagon-shaped symbol representing the five ports of Incheon — Airport, Seaport, Teleport, Leisureport and Businessport, with the emblem of Games inside. It symbolises the city as the hub of Northeast Asia.[29]

Unveiled on September 16, 2010, "Diversity Shines Here" is the official English motto of the Games. It represents and highlights the significance of Asia's wonderful diversity in history, cultures, and religions.[30] The official slogan in Korean, "평화의 숨결, 아시아의 미래" (RR: Pyeonghwaui sumgyeol, asiaui mirae), literally means "Breath of Peace, Future of Asia".

The six official posters for the Incheon Asian Games were released on March 31, 2011. The design represents the 28 Olympic sports categorized into five groups: racquet sports, ball sports, water sports, athletic sports and weight class. In various ways, the values and philosophy of the 17th Asian Games is represented in these posters.[31][32]

Organiser started selling merchandise on July 2012.[17] IB Worldwide was the exclusive online merchandiser of the event's licensed products.[33]

The official album was released by Universal Music was released on June 20, 2014, which featured "Only One", performed by JYJ as the official theme song of the Games.[34][35]

Aerial view of the Incheon Asiad Park in July 2014

There are 49 competition venues and 48 training facilities that were used during the Games. Among the 49 competition venues, ten venues featured in six cities of Gyeonggi Province while another two featured in Chungju and Seoul. The rest of the venues featured in eight district and a county inside the metropolitan city of Incheon. Ten venues were constructed for the Games.[36] The Games also consist athletes and media villages that provide over 3,300 units and 9,560 rooms for athletes and media persons.[36]

The main stadium, known as Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, has an all-seater capacity of 61,074 seats, with 30,000 seats are variable after the Games.[17][37] The US$400 million stadium, originally planned for 70,000 seats, was designed by Populous, who has also designed several event venues around the world, including the Olympic Stadium of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 28, 2011 in Yeonhui-dong. Construction began in June 2011 and finished in July 2014.[38][39]

Flags at Asiad Park.

Athletes' village was built at Guwol, Namdong District, which had 2,220 units in 22 apartment buildings. It accommodates around 14,500 athletes and officials.[40][41]

Incheon Subway's construction period was shortened rather than planned 2018 completion.[18] Due to the increasing popularity of Incheon International Airport during the Games, the immigration procedures were improved to better convenience the passengers.[42]

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony started at 18:00 local time on September 19, 2014. The performance was directed by the film director Im Kwon-taek with playwright and actor Jang Jin, with entertainer Kim Seong-ju and KBS emcee Yun Su-yeong were the host of the ceremony.[43][44] It was attended by President of South Korea Park Geun-hye who opened the games, President of International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, Tokyo Governor Yōichi Masuzoe and also Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok.[43]

Actors Jang Dong-gun and Kim Soo-hyun led the performance, which was covered in four acts, from "Asia long time ago", "Asia meeting through the sea", "Asia as family and friends", and "Asia as one and future joining with today", displayed the Korea past and future with digital technology. Other performers included Chinese pianist Lang Lang, soprano Sumi Jo,[45] JYJ, Exo, and Psy, who wrapped up the ceremony with a performance of Gangnam Style.[46]

Unlike the 2002 Asian Games opening ceremony, South Korea as host marched separately from neighbour North Korea in the parade of nations.

The 2014 Asian Games featured 28 Olympic sports that would be contested at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In addition, eight non-Olympic sports were featured: baseball, ten-pin bowling, cricket, kabaddi, karate, sepak takraw, squash and wushu. The list was finalized on December 9, 2010 at the OCA's executive board meeting in Muscat, Oman.[47][48] This resulted in six other sports: roller sport, board games (chess, go, xiangqi), cue sports, softball, dancesport and dragon boat, which were held in previous Games being dropped from the list.[49] The list was approved on July 13, 2011 during the 30th annual general assembly in Tokyo as softball was incorporated with baseball as one sport while soft tennis came under the discipline of tennis.[50] For the first time, compound archery, mixed relay triathlon, judo team events were introduced.[51][52]

The changes in the non-Olympic sports featured at the Asian Games were influenced by discussions with organizers, who had suggested the removal of cricket from the program because they felt too few countries played it and because they lacked the infrastructure to host it. However, the OCA disputed the proposed removal of cricket, citing its popularity and viewer interest.[53]

Participating countries.

All 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia participated, this including North Korea, who initially threatened to boycott the Games after disputes with South Korea over administrative issues concerning its delegation of athletes and officials.[54] Saudi Arabia was the sole NOC not to send female athletes to the Games.[55]

Below is a list of all the participating NOCs; the number of competitors per delegation is indicated in brackets.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees (by highest to lowest)

IOC	Country	Athletes
CHN	China	894
KOR	South Korea	833
JPN	Japan	718
THA	Thailand	518
IND	India	515
HKG	Hong Kong	476
TPE	Chinese Taipei	420
KAZ	Kazakhstan	415
UZB	Uzbekistan	291
IRI	Iran	282
MAS	Malaysia	277
KUW	Kuwait	258
QAT	Qatar	251
MGL	Mongolia	234
SIN	Singapore	230
NEP	Nepal	203
KSA	Saudi Arabia	202
VIE	Vietnam	196
PAK	Pakistan	188
INA	Indonesia	186
PRK	North Korea	150
PHI	Philippines	150
MDV	Maldives	142
BAN	Bangladesh	136
MAC	Macau	135
KGZ	Kyrgyzstan	117
LAO	Laos	102
JOR	Jordan	97
OMA	Oman	93
TJK	Tajikistan	92
UAE	United Arab Emirates	85
SRI	Sri Lanka	80
TKM	Turkmenistan	80
AFG	Afghanistan	69
BRN	Bahrain	69
MYA	Myanmar	64
IRQ	Iraq	63
PLE	Palestine	56
LIB	Lebanon	41
YEM	Yemen	34
TLS	East Timor	33
SYR	Syria	30
CAM	Cambodia	20
BHU	Bhutan	16
BRU	Brunei	11

In the following calendar for the 2014 Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held, which numeric representing the number of finals that were contested on that day. On the left the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, and at the right how many gold medals were won in that sport. There is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader.[101]

All times are in Korea Standard Time (UTC+9)

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medal events

CC

Closing ceremony

September/October		14th Sun	15th Mon	16th Tue	17th Wed	18th Thu	19th Fri	20th Sat	21st Sun	22nd Mon	23rd Tue	24th Wed	25th Thu	26th Fri	27th Sat	28th Sun	29th Mon	30th Tue	1st Wed	2nd Thu	3rd Fri	4th Sat	Events
Ceremonies							OC															CC	N/A
Aquatics	Artistic swimming							1	●	1	1												53
	Diving																2	2	2	2	2
	Swimming								6	6	7	7	6	6
	Water polo							●	●	●	1	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1
Archery											●	●	●	●	4	4							8
Athletics															5	8	7	4	11	11	1		47
Badminton								●	●	1	1	●	●	●	1	2	2						7
Baseball	Baseball								●	●	●	●	●		●	1							2
	Softball														●	●	●		●	1
Basketball								●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	1	1		2
Bowling											1	1	1	1	●	2	●	4	●	2			12
Boxing											●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	3	●	10		13
Canoeing	Slalom																		●	4			16
	Sprint														●	●	12
Cricket								●	●	●	●	●	●	1	●	●	●	●	●	●	1		2
Cycling	BMX																		2				18
	Mountain biking																	2
	Road cycling														2	1	1
	Track cycling							2	2	1	1	1	3
Equestrian								1	●		1	●	●	2		1		1					6
Fencing								2	2	2	2	2	2										12
Football		●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	1	1			2
Golf													●	●	●	4							4
Gymnastics	Artistic								1	1	2	5	5										18
	Rhythmic																		1	1
	Trampolining													2
Handball								●	●	●		●	●	●		●	●	●	1	1			2
Field hockey								●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	1	1			2
Judo								4	5	5	2												16
Kabaddi																●	●	●	●	●	2		2
Karate																				5	5	3	13
Modern pentathlon																				2	2		4
Rowing								●	●	●	●	7	7										14
Rugby sevens																		●	●	2			2
Sailing												●	●	●	●	●	●	●	14				14
Sepak takraw								●	●	2	●	●	●	●	●	2	●	●	●	●	2		6
Shooting								4	4	4	4	4	10	6	6		●	2					44
Squash								●	●	●	2	●	●	●	2								4
Table tennis															●	●	●	2	●	●	3	2	7
Taekwondo																		4	4	4	4		16
Tennis	Tennis							●	●	●	●	2	●	●	●	●	3	2					14
	Soft tennis																●	2	1	2	●	2
Triathlon													2	1									3
Volleyball	Beach volleyball							●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1						4
	Indoor volleyball							●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1
Weightlifting								2	2	2	2	2	2	3									15
Wrestling															4	4	4	4	4				20
Wushu								2	2	2	2	7											15
Daily medal events								18	24	27	29	38	38	22	24	30	32	29	46	41	34	7	439
Cumulative Total								18	42	69	98	136	174	196	220	250	282	311	357	398	432	439
September/October		14th Sun	15th Mon	16th Tue	17th Wed	18th Thu	19th Fri	20th Sat	21st Sun	22nd Mon	23rd Tue	24th Wed	25th Thu	26th Fri	27th Sat	28th Sun	29th Mon	30th Tue	1st Wed	2nd Thu	3rd Fri	4th Sat	Total events

The closing ceremony was held at 07:00 pm local time on October 4, 2014.[102] The theme of the ceremony is "Our Cherished Memories of Incheon". OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, Prime Minister of South Korea Jung Hong-won, and Mayor of Incheon Yoo Jeong-bok were the guests of the ceremony. The sequence of events featured the performances of National Dance Company of Korea, Gugak Center Dance Troupe and Kukkiwon. Then, soprano, Im Sun-hae sang the national anthem at the ceremony and then the athletes enter the stadium along with volunteers and placard bearers freely.[103] CNBLUE performed "I'm sorry" and "Can't stop" before Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, presented Kosuke Hagino Samsung MVP award and declared the Incheon 2014 Asian Games closed.

The OCA Flag was lowered and the flag of Indonesia, the next games' host nation is raised as the Indonesian national anthem was played. IOC member Rita Subowo, Governor of South Sumatra Alex Noerdin, and the Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama received the Games flag for the 2018 Games. The ceremony proceeded with the segment from the next Asian Games host city, Jakarta and Palembang. It starts with "The Colours of Jakarta", featured a Javanese dance known as Ronggeng. It followed by "The Spirit of South Sumatra", featured Malay dance accompaniment of Rampak Nusantara drums.[104]

The K-Pop star Big Bang who performed "Hands up" and "Fantastic Baby" wrapped up the closing ceremony, while Sistar performed during the pre-ceremony concert.[103]