The 2026 Asian Games are set to officially open in Japan on Saturday, September 19, with about 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions expected to take part in one of Asia’s biggest sporting events.
The 20th edition of the continental multi-sport competition will run until October 4 across the Aichi-Nagoya region and other Japanese cities.
The Games will feature 469 medal events across 43 sports, providing athletes with an opportunity to compete for continental honours and, in several disciplines, earn qualification places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Although the official opening ceremony is still ahead, competition has already begun in some disciplines.
The men’s basketball tournament started on September 10, while other competitions are scheduled to get underway before Saturday’s ceremony.
Japan is hosting the Asian Games for the third time. It previously staged the continental event in Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.
This year’s Games are larger than organisers originally anticipated.
Plans had been based on approximately 15,000 athletes and officials, but registrations increased to about 17,000, creating additional pressure on accommodation and other logistical arrangements.
The sporting programme has also undergone significant changes.
Mixed martial arts, padel, surfing, virtual taekwondo and teqball are among the sports making their Asian Games debut.
Teqball, a sport combining elements of football and table tennis, is among the newer additions designed to broaden the competition’s sporting programme.
At the same time, some sports that appeared in previous editions have been removed. Chess, bridge, go, Chinese chess, dragon boat racing, roller skating and marathon swimming will not feature in the Aichi-Nagoya programme.
Esports and breaking, which made significant appearances at the previous Games in Hangzhou, have been retained.
The Games will also have implications beyond the Asian sporting calendar.
Several competitions will serve as qualification pathways for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, including archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon.
China enters the Games as the dominant force in recent Asian Games history.
It has topped the medal table at every edition since 1982 and won a record 201 gold medals when it hosted the previous Games in Hangzhou.
Japan finished second in Hangzhou with 52 gold medals, while South Korea collected 42.
The 2026 Games therefore provide Japan with the opportunity to showcase its sporting facilities and organisational capacity while giving athletes across the continent a major platform to compete.
With the opening ceremony only days away, attention is now turning to the athletes and teams preparing to challenge for medals across the 43-sport programme.
The Aichi-Nagoya Games will conclude on October 4, after more than two weeks of competition involving some of Asia’s leading sporting nations.
