The 2002
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...
held in
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tournament started two days before the opening ceremony.
Busan is the second city in South Korea, after
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
in
1986, to host the Games. A total of 419 events in 38 sports were contested by 7,711 athletes from 44 countries. The Games were also co-hosted by its four neighbouring cities:
Ulsan
Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...
,
Changwon
Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...
,
Masan
Masan () is an administrative region of Changwon, a city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae District, Jinhae. Masan was ...
and
Yangsan
Yangsan (; ) is a city in Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea.
It borders Ulsan to the northeast, Gijang-gun and Geumjeong District in Busan to the southeast, Gimhae to the southwest, and Miryang to the northwest. City Hall is located in Nam ...
. It was opened by President of South Korea,
Kim Dae-jung
Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
, at the
Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
The final medal tally was led by
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, followed by host
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
and
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. China set a new record and became the first nation in the history of
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
to cross the 300 medal-mark in one edition. South Korea set a new record with 95 gold medals. 22 world records and 43 Asian records were broken during the Games. In addition, Japanese Swimming
Kosuke Kitajima
is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals at the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Summer Olympics – becoming the first and only swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at ...
was announced as the
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
(MVP) of the Games.
Bidding process
Busan was selected over
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
at the 14th
Olympic Council of Asia
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a sports governing body, governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 3 ...
(OCA) General Assembly in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
on 23 May 1995. The voting involved 41 members of the sports governing body, with 37 of them supporting Busan.
Development and preparations
Costs
A total of US$2.9 billion was spent for the games.
Marketing
Emblem
The emblem of the Games is a motif of the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...
's blue waves in the shape of
Taegeuk
''Taegeuk'' (, ) is a Sino-Korean vocabulary, Sino-Korean term meaning "supreme ultimate", although it can also be translated as "great polarity / duality / extremes". The term and its overall concept is derived from the Chinese ''Taiji (philos ...
, symbolising Busan and Korea. It expresses the image of development and unity of the
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
n people and the two dynamic powers that are closely intertwined. The wave's shape in the emblem indicates the character B, the first character of Busan.
Mascot
The mascot of the 2002 Asian Games is a
Sea gull, the city bird of
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
named "Duria", whose name is a combination of the two words 'Durative' and 'Asia', which means "You and Me Together" or Everlasting Asia in the
Korean language
Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...
, which expresses the ideal of the Games: to promote harmony, friendship and prosperity among Asian countries. Its thick black ink and free line expression symbolize Korean traditional culture, while its white colour shade represents the image of a powerful spirit and the great hopes for Asia in the 21st century.
Medals
The medal of the games featured a top-view design of the Korean traditional octagonal building, Palgakjeong, with the old Olympic Council of Asia logo on the obverse and Busan Asia Games Flame, logo, and
Oryukdo scenery on the reverse. The design represents solidarity of membership and eternity of the OCA, Busan as host of the games and youth, unity, and friendship of the athletes.
Music
In conjunction with the Games, eight songs were released as the official music for the Games:
*"The Dream of Asia" –
Lee Moon-se
*"Frontier!-Voices from the East" –
Yang Bang-ean &
Furee
*"We are..." – Baby box
*"Theme from Duria" –
Hong Jong-myung,
Shin Hyo-bum
*"The Fanfare" –
Busan city Orchestra
*"Welcome to Busan Korea" –
Kim Hyo-soo
*"Let's Go!!" –
Gang Hyun-soo
*"Love to All of Us" – CAN
Torch relay
The relay itself started at 11 a.m. on 5 September 2002 when two flames were simultaneously lit at
Hallasan in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
and
Paektu Mountain, the
Korean peninsula
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
’s highest mountain, in
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. 42 local flames in other participating nations were also lit at the same time. The two Korean flames were unified into one at
Imjingak Pavilion at the truce village of
Panmunjeom
Panmunjom (also spelled Panmunjeom) was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North Korea and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War was signed. It was located in what is now Paju, Gye ...
during the morning of 7 September 2002, being dubbed the Unification flame. After that, a nationwide torch relay totalling a distance of 4,294 kilometres in 23 days was held. The relay passed through 904 districts in 16 cities within the country. The Unification flame, joined with the flames of 42 other participating nations, were unified at the main cauldron base during the opening ceremony on 29 September 2002. The torch design was based on a Korean traditional music instrument called
taepyeongso
The ''taepyeongso'' (), also called ''hojok'', ''hojeok'' 호적 號笛/wikt:胡, 胡wikt:笛, 笛, ''nallari'', or ''saenap'', wikt:嗩, 嗩wikt:吶, 吶, is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family. It is possibly desce ...
.
Venues
42 competition venues were used in the Games with twelve of them are newly built, including the Asiad Sports Complex which was completed on 31 July 2000. Other venues included an athletes' village and a main press centre.
Asiad Sports Complex
Gangseo Sports Park
Geumjeong Sports Park
Gudeok Sports Complex
Isolated Venues
Changwon Sports Park
Masan
Masan () is an administrative region of Changwon, a city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae District, Jinhae. Masan was ...
Sports Complex
Ulsan
Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...
The Asian Village in Property Development Area, Banyeodong,
Haeundae District
Haeundae District () is a district (Administrative divisions of South Korea, ''gu'') of Busan, South Korea.
Haeundae has a population of about 423,000, the most populous district of Busan with 11.6% of the city population, and covers an area of ...
,
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
had 2,290 apartments in 20 buildings which can accommodate 14,000 people.
Transport
The host city Busan had existing subway and bus services prior to the games.
The games
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony with the theme ''A Beautiful Meeting'' was held on 29 September 2002 at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium. Participating nations marched into the stadium in
Korean alphabet
The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...
ical order began with
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
.
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
jointly entered the stadium
under one flag for the first time in Asian Games history and the second time after the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
. South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung declared the Games open, Two Korean athletes —
Mun Dae-Sung (taekwondo) and
Ryu Ji -Hye (table tennis) — took the oath on behalf of all the participating athletes while South Korean retired judoist
Ha Hyung-joo and North Korean judoist
Kye Sun-hui lit the games' cauldron. The cultural part was a six-segment show lasting 40 minutes and was about the encounter between King
Kim Suro and the Queen
Heo Hwang-ok. The main star of the event was the opera diva
Sumi Jo
Sumi Jo, OSI (; ; born 22 November 1962) is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy Award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire.
Life and career Early life and education
Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong in Ch ...
.
Participating National Olympic Committees
All 44 members of the
Olympic Council of Asia
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a sports governing body, governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 3 ...
(OCA) with 7,711 athletes took part in the Games.
East Timor
Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
participated for the first time since its independence,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
returned to the action since
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
had come to power, and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
returned after previously boycotted prior event due to
political tension with
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
as the
1998 Games host. Below is a list of all the participating NOCs; the number of competitors per delegation is indicated in brackets.
Sports
A total of 419 events in 38 sports was contested in the Games across 16 days of competition. The
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
events began two days and one day prior to the opening ceremony respectively.
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...
had its debut at the Games.
*Aquatics
**
Synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...
**
Diving
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), ...
**
Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
**
Water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
*
Archery
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...
*
Athletics
*
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
*
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
*
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
*
Cue sports
Cue sports are a wide variety of Game of skill, games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a Baize, cloth-covered billiards table, table bounded by elastic bumpers known a ...
*
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...
*
Bowling
Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
*
Boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
*
Canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian.
A few of the recreational ...
*
Cycling
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
**Mountain bike
**Road
**Track
*
Equestrian
*
Fencing
Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
*
Field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
*
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
*
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
*
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
**Artistic gymnastics
**Rhythmic gymnastics
*
Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
*
Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
*
Kabaddi
Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
*
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
*
Modern pentathlon
The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, Laser pistol (sport), laser pistol shooting, and ...
*
Rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...
*
Rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
**Union
**Sevens
*
Sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
*
Sepaktakraw
*
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...
*
Softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
*
Soft tennis
*
Squash
*
Table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
*
Taekwondo
Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
*
Tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
*Volleyball
**
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
**
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
*
Weightlifting
Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...
*
Wrestling
Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
*
Wushu
Wushu may refer to:
Martial arts
* Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China
* Wushu (sport)
Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...
Calendar
:''All times are in
Korea Standard Time
South Korea has one time zone, Korea Standard Time (UTC+09:00, UTC+9), which is abbreviated KST. South Korea currently does not observe daylight saving time.
From May 8 to October 9 in 1988, daylight saving time was tested to better accommodat ...
(
UTC+9)''
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony with the theme ''Returning to Home'' was held on the evening of Monday, 14 October 2002 at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium. Japanese swimmer
Kosuke Kitajima
is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals at the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Summer Olympics – becoming the first and only swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at ...
was announced as the
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
(MVP) of the Games. Samih Moudallal, vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), on behalf of OCA President Sheikh
Ahmad Al-Fahad Al Sabah declared the games closing. The Asian Games flag was handed over to Doha, Qatar, host of the
next edition in 2006. A cultural segment of the city was also presented.
Medal table
The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, South Korea, is highlighted.
Broadcasting
Busan Asian Games Radio and Television Organization (BARTO), a joint venture between
Korean Broadcasting System
The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the public broadcasting, national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea.
The KBS ope ...
(KBS),
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; ) is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. Its flagship terrestrial television station MBC TV broadcasts as channel 11. MBC News Now broadcasts as channel 12.
Establish ...
(MBC) and
Seoul Broadcasting System
Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS; ) is one of the leading Television in South Korea, South Korean television and radio broadcasters. The broadcaster legally became known as SBS in March 2000, changing its corporate name from Seoul Broadcasting ...
(SBS), served as the host broadcaster of these Games, covered 28 of the 38 sports during the event. The International Broadcast Centre was located at
Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) in
Haeundae District
Haeundae District () is a district (Administrative divisions of South Korea, ''gu'') of Busan, South Korea.
Haeundae has a population of about 423,000, the most populous district of Busan with 11.6% of the city population, and covers an area of ...
.
Concerns and controversies
Doping issues
On October 7, 2002, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that the
bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...
bronze medalist in the
+90 kg weight category
Youssef El-Zein of
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
was relieved of his medal for not submitting to a
drugs test. After El-Zein was disqualified, the bronze medal in the +90 kg category went to Choi Jae-Duck of South Korea (who had finished fourth).
Six days later, Japanese news agency
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million ...
reported that Indian middle-distance runner
Sunita Rani had tested positive for a banned substance, which was later confirmed by Lee Choon-Sup, Deputy Secretary General of the Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee; an unofficial report stated that the substance was the
anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...
nandrolone
Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an endogenous androgen. It is also an anabolic steroid (AAS) which is medically used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate ...
. Sunita had won two medals in
athletics: a gold in the 1,500 m (setting an
Asian Games record) and a bronze in the 5,000 m, (in which Sunita jointly bettered the Games record set by
Indonesian Suprianti Sutono in Bangkok during the
1998 Asian Games with six other athletes).
The Indian Chef de Mission at the Games backed Sunita—who denied using any banned drug—and asked for a "B" sample test from Bangkok, but tests were run only at the Asian Games’ Doping Control Center (AGDCC) in Seoul (the laboratory accredited by the IOC). On October 16, the AGDCC confirmed the steroid nandrolone in Sunita's urine sample; as a consequence, the OCA stripped her of both medals and dismissed her Asian Games record for the 1,500 m.
The
Indian Olympic Association
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...
(IOA) requested the intervention of the
International Association of Athletics Federations
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...
and the IOC; the samples were jointly reexamined by the
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...
and the IOC Sub-Commission on Doping and Biochemistry of Sport. In January 2003, the OCA announced that the IOC Medical Director had cleared Sunita of the doping charge and that appropriate action would be taken against the AGDCC. Both of Sunita's medals were reinstated on February 4, 2003, in a ceremony attended by the Secretary General of OCA
Randhir Singh and the president of the IOA
Suresh Kalmadi.
Three Malaysian
sepak takraw players were sent home for failing drug tests after testing positive for morphine.
Missing athletes
A total of 16 athletes including 12 Nepalese, three Sri Lankans and one Mongolian were reported to be missing, with police and sports officials suspecting them to have found illegal jobs in South Korea.
See also
*
1986 Asian Games
*
2002 FESPIC Games
*
List of IOC country codes
This is a list of International Olympic Committee (IOC) country codes.
Current NOCs
There are 206 current NOCs (National Olympic Committees) within the Olympic Movement. The following tables show the currently used code for each NOC and any d ...
Notes
References
External links
2002 Asian Games official website (archived)Getty Image
{{Events at the 2002 Asian Games
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
A
Sports competitions in Busan
Multi-sport events in South Korea
Asian Games by year
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
September 2002 sports events in Asia
October 2002 sports events in Asia