19th Asian Games Hangzhou declared open with grand Opening Ceremony
Athletes will compete until 8 October 2023 in the eastern Chinese city for 481 sets of medals after the "green" and "smart" 19th Asian Games was declared open.
The much-anticipated 19th Asian Games Hangzhou are underway after a stunning Opening Ceremony on Saturday (23 September) evening in the eastern Chinese city.
This Asian Games can count on more than 12,000 athletes from all 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia, an expected increase of around 700 athletes from the last Asian Games held in Indonesia in 2018.
The Hangzhou Asian Games is a self-declared "green" and "smart" Games; no fireworks were let off in the city during the Opening Ceremony in accordance with this, although impressive digital technology allowed television viewers to see AI-generated fireworks on the broadcast.
The Opening Ceremony was divided into three chapters: "Timeless Grace", "Tidal Bore of the Qiantangjiang River", and "Together Towards the Future", and the Games were opened by the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping.
Ye Shiwen, Fan Zhendong, Xu Mengtao, Shi Zhiyong, Li Lingwei and Wang Shun completed the last six legs of the torch relay. Wang, the men's 200m individual medley champion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and the "virtual digital torchbearers" representing participants in the online torch relay lit the main torch of the Hangzhou Asian Games, bringing a successful conclusion to the ceremony.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who was in attendance, said: "This opening ceremony was a perfect combination of digital innovation and human gracefulness. Congratulations to China on this inspiring event."
Some 481 sets of medals are on offer at these Games, which are taking place across 56 different competition venues.