Hangzhou, China, September 23, 2023: A giant digital torchbearer, thousands of dancers and performers and high-wire gymnasts all combined seamlessly to put on a high-tech opening ceremony which wowed the world as the 19th Asian Games officially opened on Saturday night.
A vivid and colourful ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium interweaved the old and the new - the rich 5,000-year history and profound culture of this eastern region of China with a breath-taking electronic show as the Games got underway after a year’s delay due to COVID-19.
A smiling Chinese President Xi Jinping officially declared open China’s third rendition of the Asian Games – following Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010 – as a spectacular display of digitally enhanced projections on to an oval-shaped floor and background screens kept the 50,000-strong crowd spellbound.
The lighting of the cauldron was the highlight of the two-hour ceremony. An innovative process began with a Transformer-like digital figure – made up of over 100 million virtual sparks, each representing a participant of the online torch relay - running through the streets of Hangzhou before crossing the Qiantangjing River in a few giant strides before entering the stadium to light the cauldron alongside Tokyo 2020 Olympic swimming champion Wang Shun.
Up in the VVIP box, President Xi rubbed shoulders with the world’s top sporting leaders, including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and OCA Acting President Raja Randhir Singh, as well as government heads like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
On the field, representatives of the record-breaking 12,417 athletes marched in with the biggest roar from the home crowd reserved for the Chinese delegation led by flag bearers world champion swimmer Qin Haiyang and women’s basketball star Yang Liwei. They also cheered the Hong Kong, China and Macau, China delegations as well as Chinese Taipei.
Bigger and better will be the underlying theme during the Games with the largest field of competitors in the event’s history competing in a record 481 medal events. Athletes from the 45 National Olympic Committees will be in contention in a whopping 40 sports - 31 of them Olympic sports - and 61 disciplines.
OCA Acting President Raja Randhir Singh, resplendent in an orange turban, was cheered as he greeted the crowd “good evening” in Mandarin. He had to stop on two more occasions during his address as the audience hailed him for speaking the local lingo.
The OCA chief already had no doubts that, when the Games end on October 8, it will be the best ever. “On behalf of the OCA we are proud and happy to be here. To the organising committee, your diligence will bear fruit and you will be rewarded with the best ever Asian Games,” Singh said.
He then paid tribute to the city. “To the people of Hangzhou, without your hard work none of this would have been possible. So thank you.” On cue, he was applauded.
Singh also urged all athletes to take part in the spirit of friendship, words echoed by Gao Zhidan, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee as well as the Hangzhou Games Organising Committee, in his speech.
If these words were not enough inspiration for the athletes, the fact that Paris 2024 Olympics qualification in nine sports is up for grabs will spur them on. A total of 74 spots are available in archery (six spots), artistic swimming (10), boxing (34), breaking (2), hockey (2), modern pentathlon (10), sailing (6), tennis (2) and water polo (2).
On Saturday night the spotlight was on a cast of thousands of dancers and performers whose exhibition of superb choreography in the backdrop of glass-free 3D animations was awe-inspiring.
This exhibition will surely be matched by China’s massive squad of 886 athletes, including 36 Olympic champions. The home team are once again clear favourites to top the medals table – as they have done at the last 10 editions. But the end game is the Paris Olympics.
“We aim to secure the top position in both the gold medal tally and the overall medal count. Furthermore, our aim is to comprehensively train our team for the upcoming Paris Olympics, while simultaneously gaining invaluable experience to aid our preparations for the event,” said Gao, who is also the Director of the General Administration of Sport in China.
