Paris, France, July 25, 2024: The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al-Musallam, is confident that the Asian athletes will put on a “fantastic” performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Speaking at the Main Press Centre at Port Maillot on Thursday afternoon, on the eve of the opening ceremony, Captain Husain said he was looking forward to watching the Asian athletes produce their best form on the grand stage of the Olympic Games.
“I am very happy to be here in Paris and this is a very good occasion to see all the athletes from 206 countries competing, and to evaluate the work of every National Olympic Committee, every National Federation and every continental organisation,” he said.
“As the Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, I am looking forward to seeing the Asian athletes perform here to their best ability and to show a good technical standard and achieve good results.”
When asked if he was confident that the 44 Asian National Olympic Committees competing in Paris would put on a good show against the best in the world, Capt. Husain replied: “I am sure that the Asian athletes will do a fantastic show and performance.
“The Hangzhou Asian Games last year had a positive impact and I am looking forward, after the closing ceremony, to seeing what kind of impact the Asian Games had.”
When the curtain falls on Paris 2024 on August 11, there will be just over two years to the next Asian Games in Nagoya-Aichi, Japan in September 2026.
Capt. Husain pointed out that there would be a very important stepping stone towards the next Asian Games – the Asian Youth Games in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in September 2025.
“We have a very important games before Nagoya – the Youth Asian Games next year,” he added.
“I think this Youth Asian Games is very important for the athletes and the young generation in Asia to come forward for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.”
The OCA Director General, who is also President of World Aquatics, gave his comments to the OCA shortly after a World Aquatics press conference in the Main Press Centre.