Huraa Island, Maldives, September 19, 2025: The people of Huraa, one of the inhabited islands of an atoll situated 20 kilometres north of the Maldivian capital Male, got into the act at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games Fun Run on Friday, September 19 – a year to go exactly for the showpiece.
There are only 1,200 residents in Huraa, and it seemed as if most of them had turned up for the OCA’s ‘Asian Games for All’ premier initiative, the Fun Run to promote the 20th Asian Games next year, in collaboration with the Aichi-Nagoya Games organisers as well as the Maldives Olympic Committee.
The one-year countdown began on Friday – next year’s Asian sporting extravaganza is from September 19 to October 4 – and it provided the perfect backdrop as schoolchildren and residents from Huraa, Male and other islands, totalling more than 300, took part in the festive Fun Run to mark the auspicious occasion.
Along with the Fun Run, the Art Competition was also held with VIP dignitaries selecting six drawings – three boys and three girls – which will be exhibited at Asian Games venues in Nagoya next year.
“This is the biggest multi-sports Games in the world with 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions participating, and this exposure to the outside world will be good for Huraa Island,” Thamooh Ahmed Saeed, MOC Secretary General, had noted earlier.
During a press conference earlier in the morning, the MOC Secretary General had issued an open invitation welcoming the islanders to join in the festivities.
“It will be a nice family gathering, with children and elders, and there will be fun and music, and everybody is welcome,” Saeed said.
And it looked as if the residents of the island had thrown their weight behind the MOC which was also looking at using the Fun Run as a tool to promote tourism in the Maldives.
The Fun Run was divided into two segments, a shorter one-kilometre run for children under 13 years from Huraa Island Primary School, and a 5-km run for the elders, with prize money given for finishing in the top three in the latter category.
The Maldivian Fun Run is the 10th overseas leg to promote the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The next stop will be in Tehran, Iran.
On the Games itself, Saeed said while the Maldives will be represented, a decision has yet to be reached as to how many athletes will be sent to Japan, and in what sports.
