Opening Ceremony |
Olympic diving champion He Chong ignited a giant firework whose flare shot up and lit the cauldron.
The Asiad flame returned to Guangzhou on Nov 5 after being relayed in Beijing, Harbin, Changchun, Haiyang and 21 cities across Guangdong Province.
Before the lighting of the cauldron, Afghanistan headed the athlete parade, which was concluded by host China with Olympic women's rowing champion Jin Ziwei as the flag bearer.
Befitting a city and a continent whose very foundations depend on the convergence of land and water, the Opening Ceremony centred on the river, its islands and its riverbanks.Before the nearly 30,000 spectators on Haixinsha Island saw the athletes and officials, ten of thousands of ordinary Guangzhou residents had welcomed the Games to their city as the 45 participating delegations sailed down the Pearl River from White Swan Bay.
Film star Zhang Ziyi and pianist Lang Lang performed in a water-themed arts show that marked Guangzhou's history as China's gateway to the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
At last Games in Doha, China headed the table with 166 gold medals, followed by South Korea into the second with 58 and Japan third with 50.
Thirty-five Olympic gold medalists, including 110-metre hurdler Liu Xiang and badminton ace Lin Dan, spearhead the 1,454-member Chinese delegation.
The Guangzhou Games are the largest ever Asian Games featuring 28 Olympic and 14 non-Olympic sports with 476 gold medals up for grabs. The Games will see the debuts of cricket, dance sports, dragon boat racing, roller sports and Go chess.
Guangdong Province built and renovated more than 70 stadiums. The air and water quality in Guangzhou has been improved, its transportation system updated and barrier-free facilities in place. Some 900,000 volunteers will go all out to ensure a comfortable and safe environment for the audience and athletes.
The Asian Games has urged Guangzhou residents to behave in a more civilised manner as a massive education campaign was launched shortly after the city won the hosting rights in 2004.
Guangzhou officials have handed out one million brochures and sent 40 million text messages to teach its citizens better manners and even how to smile.
The Asian Games will run through November 27.
* Source: Guangzhou website
Guangzhou
One of the five National Central Cities and capital of the Guangdong province, Guangzhou is a port city located in southern China on the Pearl River. With over ten million inhabitants, Guangzhou is the third largest city in China.
The Guangzhou Asian Games
The Guangzhou Asian Games will draw over 10,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions, which means full member representation of federations on the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). In contrast to the 28 events that make up the Olympic Games, the 2010 Asian Games will feature 42 different sport categories split into 476 events over 16 days of competition, with added disciplines in some sports. Compared to previous editions, the 2010 Games is the largest ever in terms of participation and the number of sport categories, bringing to 3,989 the total number of medals being awarded.
The Opening Ceremony will be held on Haixinsha Island in the Pearl River and directed by Chen Weiya, who was also the Assistant Director of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Yang Shu'an, Vice-Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China and Vice-President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, believes the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou will play out in a friendly, festive atmosphere as the city prepares for the event.
Gymnastics at the Asian Games
The disciplines of Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics have been included on the programme of the Asian Games since its 7th edition in Teheran (IRI) in 1974.
Trampoline Gymnastics joined in 2006 when it became an official discipline of the 15th Asiad in Doha (QAT).
The 2010 Asian Games Gymnastics competition venue
All Gymnastics competitions of the Guangzhou Games will take place in the Asian Games Town Gymnasium, located in the southern portion of the 2.73 qkm Guangzhou Asian Games Town.
Apart from Gymnastics, the venue will also host the Games’ Billiard Sports and Squash events. It covers an area of 31,482 m2 and has a capacity of 8,000, including 6,000 permanent and 2,000 removable seats.
The arched roof possesses a rainwater collection and recycling system.
In September, the 2010 Guangdong Gymnastics Invitation Tournament was held in the competition venue as the first Gymnastics test event for the 16th Asian Games. Coaches, athletes and spectators attending the test event were greatly impressed by the venue's first-rate facilities and smooth operations, holding high expectations for the Gymnastics competitions. The test event involved mock competitions such as Men's Qualifications, Women's All-around, Men's Floor, Men's Pommel Horse, Women's Vault, Men's Rings and Women's Uneven Bars. All participants were from the Guangdong Provincial Gymnastics Team.
The 2010 Asian Games Gymnastics competitions
* ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
97 men and 46 women from a total of 24 countries are registered to participate in the Artistic Gymnastics events of the Guangzhou Asian Games.
The tournament includes Qualifications as well as Team, All-around and Apparatus Finals.
Nov 13: Men’s Qualification (CI) and Team Final (CIV)
Nov 14: Women’s Qualification (CI) and Team Final (CIV)
Nov 15: Men’s and Women’s All-around Final (CII)
Nov 16 – 17: Men’s and Women’s Apparatus Finals (CIII)
** Check the following links for more information:
> MAG entry list > WAG entry list
> Detailed schedule and upcoming results
> MAG and WAG draw results
Trampoline Gymnastics
The Trampoline Gymnastics competitions including Men’s and Women’s Individual Qualifications and Finals will take place on November 21 and 22.
Nov 21: Men’s and Women’s Qualifications
Nov 22: Men’s and Women’s Finals
* Currently no data on entries is available, but check out the > detailed schedule and the > draw results for Trampoline Gymnastics.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
32 gymnasts representing China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand and Uzbekistan will participate in the Rhythmic Gymnastics competitions in Guangzhou. The tournament includes Individual Qualifications with a Team ranking as well as an Individual All-around Final. No Group competitions will be held.
Nov 25: Individual Qualifications with team ranking (CI)
Nov 26: Individual All-around Final (CII)
** Check the following links for more information:
> Entry list Individuals > Entry list Teams
> Detailed schedule and upcoming results
> RG draw result
* Source: f i g / event website