The 1994

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

, Japan. The main theme of this edition was to promote peace and harmony among Asian nations. It was emphasized by the host because the venue was the site of the first atomic bomb attack 49 years earlier. Due to the 1991

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, Iraq was suspended from the games. The games debuted former republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. There were a total number of 6,828 athletes and officials involved, from 42 countries, with a total number of 34 events. Debut sports at this edition of the Asiad were

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

and

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anc ...

Bidding process

In 1983, two cities in Asia demonstrated interest to host the

1990 Asian Games ) , Nations participating = 36 , Athletes participating = 6,122 , Events = 308 in 27 sports , Opening ceremony = 22 September 1990 , Closing ceremony = 7 October 1990 , Officially opened by = Yang Shangkun , O ...

, one was Beijing in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and the other was

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. The two appeared before the Olympic Council of Asia, during a meeting of the same, the following year in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, that also served as a previous meeting to evaluate the preparations of the city for the next Asian Games and also for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Beijing eventually won the right to host the 1990 edition, while Hiroshima, when presenting an excellent technical level bid, won as compensation the rights to host the 1994 Games. 34 votes were needed for selection.

Marketing

Logo

The emblem of the games is an abstract image of a dove, symbol of peace, which resembles the letter 'H' initial as in the host city name Hiroshima, reflecting Hiroshima's desire for peace. The OCA emblem is the symbol of Asian Games as a whole which resembles athlete in motion.

Mascot

The official mascot of the XII Asiad is a pair of white doves. Poppo and Cuccu, male and female respectively, represent peace and harmony - the main theme of this edition of the Asian Games. They were designed by well-known manga artist and character designer Susumu Matsushita.

Participating nations

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named according to their official IOC designations and arranged according to their official IOC country codes in 1994. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sports

Calendar

Medal table

The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Japan, is highlighted.

Doping scandal

The Chinese had 11 athletes test positive for banned drugs and

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects t ...

at the 1994 Asian Games. Less than a month before the Asian Games scandal at the 1994 world championships in Rome, the Chinese had won 12 of the 16 women's swimming titles, with two of those nine world champions among those who tested positive at the Asian games.

References

External links

Hiroshima city university Asian Games page
{{Events at the 1994 Asian Games A

Multi-sport events in Japan Asian Games by year Sports competitions in Hiroshima Asian