Asian Games delegations receive updates on team welcome ceremony, torch relay
Hangzhou, China, September 15, 2023: The third Chefs de Mission meeting for the 19th Asian Games on Friday, September 15 set the scene for the torch relay and team welcome ceremony.
The meeting, which was held on the third floor of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Services Centre in the Asian Games Village, was led by OCA Acting Director General Vinod Kumar Tiwari and included several officials from organising committee HAGOC.
The team welcome ceremony programme will begin on Saturday, September 16, when the official opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games Village also takes place following the pre-opening on Saturday, September 9.
The third CDM meeting heard that each NOC could send 50 athletes and officials to the team welcome ceremony, which will run from 9am to 6pm from September 16-22 - the day before the opening ceremony on September 23.
The Hangzhou Asian Games Village comprises the Athletes’ Village, Media Village and Technical Officials’ Village and has a total capacity of 20,000. The main AGV will be supported by sub-athletes’ villages in the five co-host cities in Zhejiang province.
The torch relay began on September 8 and is touring 11 cities in Zhejiang province with 2,022 torchbearers.
The Asian NOCs will join the relay on Wednesday, September 20, with one representative of each NOC running for 50 metres.
The NOC representatives will undergo training and a rehearsal at the Hangzhou Xinqiao Hotel on Tuesday, September 19 to prepare for the final leg of the relay the following day.
The proceedings will be completed during the opening ceremony when six torchbearers will take part ahead of the lighting of the cauldron to signal the start of the 19th Asian Games.
The meeting heard that 22 of the 45 NOCs had completed their Delegation Registration Meeting. The next Chefs de Mission meeting will be on Sunday, September 17.