Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-18 · by Stephen Wade The Associated Press
The Asian Games open this Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, featuring over 11,000 athletes from 45 countries across Asia. This edition includes a mix of traditional Olympic sports and unique regional disciplines like kabaddi and sepaktakraw. China leads with the most gold medals (201) from the previous games in 2023, followed by Japan (52) and South Korea (42). Notably, North Korea is sending fewer athletes than in recent years.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Asian Games open in Nagoya, Japan this Saturday and feature more than 11,000 athletes, surpassing the Paris Olympics which had around 10,700 participants last year. This event is the largest multi-sports competition after the Summer Olympics, with its origins dating back to 1951 in New Delhi, India. Organizers are facing logistical challenges, including a shortage of housing; the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena will serve as a floating athletes village for up to 5,000 participants due to space constraints. Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city with a metro population of about 9.5 million, is hosting this event which includes over 43 sports ranging from familiar Olympic disciplines to unique regional games.
Written for “Asian Games Numbers” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — The Asian Games open Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, and are often identified as the second most important multisports event after the Summer Olympic Games.
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Games → open → Games
They date from the first edition in 1951 in New Delhi, India, and were last held in 2023 in Hangzhou, China.
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They → date → Hangzhou
Those games were delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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games → delay → pandemic
Here’s a by-the numbers look at the Asian Games that run from Saturday through Oct. 4.
1
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that → ’ → Oct.
A lone Italian cruise ship, the Costa Serena, will function as a floating athletes villages with accommodation for up to 5,000 athletes and officials.
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ship → function → athletes
Athletes will also be housed in hotels and in converted containers.
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Athletes → house → containers
The games will not offer a formal athletes village as organizers hope to save money after billions were spent on the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 after a year’s delay because of COVID-19.
3
Nagoya is Japan’s third largest metropolitan area behind Tokyo and Osaka.
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Nagoya → offer → Tokyo
It’s an industrial city located in central Japan on the Pacific coast with a metro population of about 9.5 million.
43
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It → ’ → .
This is the number sports to be contested.
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This → contest → ?
Others can be found only in the Asian Games.
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Others → find → Games
They include the team sports of kabaddi and sepaktakraw and martial arts like jiujitsu and a style of wrestling called kurash.
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They → include → wrestling
Sports like teqball, padel and mixed marital arts have also been added.
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Sports → add → teqball
This is the number of countries and regions participating.
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This → participate → countries
North Korea is sending about 100 athletes.
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Korea → send → athletes
That’s down from almost 200 in China three years ago.
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That → ’ → China
North Korea did not go to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics.
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Korea → go → Olympics
The list runs from Afghanistan to Yemen.
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list → run → Yemen
In addition, an Olympic Council of Asia refugee team is entered.
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team → enter → Asia
The number of gold medals China won in 2023.
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China → win → 2023
It was followed by Japan with 52 and South Korea with 42.
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It → follow → 42
Host Japan is sending the most athletes with about 900.
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Japan → send → 900
China, with 1.4 billion people, is sending 815 and Hong Kong, with a population of only 7.5 million, is sending about 580 — an extraordinary number for such a small region.
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Kong → send → region
China’s delegation includes swimming prodigy Yu Zidi.
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delegation → include → Zidi
As a 12-year-old last year at the swimming World Championships in Singapore, she finished fourth in all three of her individual races: 200- and 400-meter individual medley, and the 200 butterfly.
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she → finish → races
She also earned bronze in a relay, though she did not swim in the final.
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she → earn → final
11,000+
The 2024 Paris Olympics fielded about 10,700 athletes.
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Olympics → field → athletes
The Asian Games will have more than 11,000.
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Games → have → 11,000
Organizers have not been clear about exactly how many athletes are signed up.
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athletes → sign → ?
They say about 17,000 officials and more than 11,000 athletes are registered and have acknowledged numbers have soared above expectations in the last several months.
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numbers → say → months
Almost 12,000 athletes competed three years ago in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
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athletes → compete → Hangzhou
Nagoya seems likely to reach that level.
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Nagoya → seem → level
A last-minute crunch to find enough rooms has also been reported.
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crunch → find → rooms
Hotel rooms in Japan are typically small and this has drawn scrutiny from some athlete groups.
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this → draw → groups
Basketball players, as often happens, have said the beds are too short.
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beds → happen → ?
Imroze Ahmed, the head of the delegation from Bangladesh, acknowledged some problems but said they should be “settled” in a few days as the games get rolling.
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games → acknowledge → days
“You can’t blame anyone for this,” he said.
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he → blame → this
The Aporia
