October 6, 2014

4th October Incheon, Korea: There was more to celebrate than just the closing of the Asian Games in Incheon today. The closing of the 17th Incheon Asian Games today saw North Korea’s second powerful man, Hwang Pyong So sitting next to the South Korean Prime Minister Jung Hong Won at the Royal Box along with the many VIPs. North Korea decided to send three high officials on a rare visit to South Korea to attend the closing of the Asian Games and also hold highest-level inter-Korean talks. At the end of the 17th Asiad in Incheon which saw 17 new World Records prospered a development of unification between the North and the South. This surprise visit from the top officials from the North marks the highest-level contact in almost a decade and elevates the hopes of development in their relationships and also enriches the core idea of the Asian Games of solidarity and promoting Co-operation and Unity within the Asian family. The president of the Olympic Council of Asia, HH Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah in his closing remarks thanked the people of Korea, the Korean government, various stakeholders and the participating nations involved in making the games a success. “The time has come upon us to say goodbye to Incheon and Korea, the Asian Games is not only about winning medals but representing your country, trying your best and taking pride in your flag. It is about sportsmanship and fair play and about friendship and team spirit.” Emotions ran high and low during the action packed 15 days where 9,500 athletes from 45 Asian countries competed for the 439 Gold medals up for grabs at the sporting spectacle. China topped the medals table with 151 gold medals, followed by South Korea’s 79 and Japan’s 47. In his closing remarks HH Shiekh Ahmad also extended his support to the participants and said “we must move on to the next level which is the Olympics and in order to do so the Olympic Council of Asia will always be there to support you.” The closing ceremony also saw HH Sheikh Ahmad presenting awards to the winners of the Asian Kids Arts Competition and the Samsung MVP award to Kosuke Hagino, from Japan. The Japanese swimmer won 4 gold medals at the Incheon Games in 200m and 400m individual medley, 200m freestyle and 4x200mrelay races. He also won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and 2 bronze medals in the 100m and the 200m backstroke races. The Games flame was extinguished marking the end of the Asian Games at Incheon; however the celebrations continued with various Korean-pop stars like Sistar, CN Blue and Big Bang entertaining the crowd. The Incheon Asian Games which was successfully organized lived up to the expectations in promoting the theme of celebrating diversity in Asia. The next Asian Games, the 18th edition, will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Hopefully we will see 18 new world records if not more then. Anyong Korea, Salam Indonesia!

Incheon, Korea, October 5, 2014: The President of the Olympic Council of Asia, HH Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, held his closing press conference for the 17th Asian Games at the Main Press Centre in Songdo on Saturday, Oct 4 2014. Sheikh Ahmad hailed the Incheon Asian Games as an all-round success due to the technical, logistical and social aspects, highlighting the 14 world records, over 28 Asian records and 87 Asian Games records during the 16 days of competition. “All this shows the development of sport in this continent,” he told the media. “But it is not only the sport that makes these Games a success; it is the accommodation, the transport, the Olympic Village and the IT as well as the technical side.” With the slogan of “Diversity Shines Here”, the 17th Asian Games have been a big success in bringing together around 9,700 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees to contest the 439 gold medals in 36 sports. Sheikh Ahmad said two particular events stood out – the men’s hockey final between historical rivals India and Pakistan and the men’s football final between host country Korea and DPR Korea. The OCA President noted that the Pakistani supporters, despite their team being defeated in a shootout, remained to cheer their players at the medal ceremony – one of the “beautiful” moments of the Games, he said. The football final attracted 47,000 spectators as Korea scored the only goal of the game in the last minute of extra time to beat their rivals from the North, yet the game finished in a very friendly atmosphere. “These two incidents showed the solidarity and the success of Asia,” he said. “This is what we can deliver around the world and what makes us feel proud of the Asian Games. “The Asian Games is not only a landmark but also shows our solidarity and unity as well as increasing the technical side of our athletes.” On the subject of doping, Sheikh Ahmad reported that there had been only six positive cases to date, the majority of them (four) related to medicinal matters and nutritional supplements rather than performance-enhancing drugs. The OCA President said the Asian Games resembled the Olympic Games in many aspects of the operations side, especially with the presence of the World Anti-Doping Agency and Court of Arbitration for Sport, plus the competition venues, while the Olympic Village and Media Centre were close to Olympic Games standards. “It was an excellent Games,” he added. “The whole picture is positive, positive, positive and successful.” On the distribution of medals, Sheikh Ahmad highlighted the fact that 37 of the 45 National Olympic Committees, 82 per cent, had won a medal, including 28 NOCs with a gold medal. He attributed some of this success to the seven-year, OCA-Incheon Metropolitan City Vision 2014 programme to assist smaller NOCs in closing the gap on the super powers. Addressing some of the problems of the Asian Games, Sheikh Ahmad said he had already held talks with basketball’s world governing body FIBA over the wearing of the hijab and said the door had been opened to solving the problem. Boxing, he added, had a history of controversy, and urged competitors to respect their rivals as well as to follow the proper channels in a dispute. Sheikh Ahmad thanked the Korean President, Park Geun-hye, the organising committee, the Incheon mayor and city government, the central government , Korean National Olympic Committee, volunteers, police and security for all their efforts in contributing to a successful Asian Games.