With Friday marking a year to go until the opening of the Asian Games, organizers in host Japan say they still have work to do to ramp up interest. Thousands of athletes are set to descend on the heartland city of Aichi-Nagoya for the second biggest multi-sport event in Asia. And organisers hope that the Games will be just as exciting for fans as last year’s pandemic-delayed edition in Hangzhou, China, which featured a number of breakout stars including 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle and tennis star Zhang Shuai.
Organizers of the 2026 Games say they are continuing to accelerate preparations across all areas to provide Asia’s leading sportsmen and women with “the ultimate stage for peak performance”. A two-day World Press Briefing was held on Thursday and Friday, welcoming 110 media representatives from around the world. The AINAGOC said it gave the media an overview of functional areas such as accreditation, accommodation, transport, logistics, technology, sports, venues and the Main Media Centre, aiming to provide professional guidance for their coverage preparations.
The AINAGOC has also confirmed that cricket and Mixed Martial Arts will make their debuts at the Games. Both events were included in the programme at the Games’s inaugural edition at Guangzhou in 2010, but they were not accorded medal events. The ICC has previously ruled that only Test matches can be played at the Games, but cricket will now feature six events in its Games debut and will be classed as combat sports alongside jujitsu and kurash.