The Asian Games in Japan closed on Sunday after a fortnight lit up by record-smashing young stars but marred by mishaps, mediocre crowds and accusations of mismanagement. More than 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics, descended on Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture for the continent's premier sporting spectacular. Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi, just 13, stole the show with three gold medals, all in Games-record times. She looks set to be a major medal threat at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The schoolgirl was named a Games MVP to cap an extraordinary showing that saw her scorch to gold in the 200m butterfly and do the 200m-400m individual medley double. For all that, the shy teenager said: "I don't think I am what people describe as a prodigy."
Also in the pool, Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi, only 17, smashed the men's 200m breaststroke world record to delight the home crowd. In athletics, where rain tumbled down over several days, the 20-year-old Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson did the 100m-200m double and was named men's MVP. On a dry evening, a celebratory closing ceremony full of colour and song saw Japan hand over hosting duties to Doha 2030. Top officials were on the defensive up until the last minute. Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al-Musallam said "numbers are facts", pointing to 50 world records broken at the Games after they opened on September 19. "The athletes cannot perform if they don't sleep good, the athletes cannot perform if they don't have good transportation," he said.
This 20th edition of the Games, which were first contested in 1951, did not have a traditional athletes' village in a bid to save money. Instead, participants were housed in wooden temporary units, on the cruise ship Costa Serena and in hotels. Organisers said this was a template for future multi-sports events. But it came with issues, with some teams complaining the units were too cramped and the beds too short. More than that, the ballooning numbers of athletes and officials meant there were not enough beds for everyone. One Thai Olympic official told of the struggles, though outstanding sporting moments did shine through, including a blockbuster cricket final won by India against arch-rivals Pakistan. North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum, a 140cm (4ft 7in) pocket powerhouse, set three new world marks in one day for gold.
But problems kept coming, including organisers playing North Korea's national anthem for the South Korean hockey team. There were athletes' buses that did not turn up when they should, or did not arrive at all. Two teams were sent to the wrong venue, delaying a volleyball match. "If I were to give them a grade, it would be an F," Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, said. Games organisers were on the back foot as well over attendances, with the opening ceremony taking place in front of thousands of empty seats. At the women's football semi-final between hosts Japan and South Korea, there were 998 spectators in a 50,000 stadium. Japanese Olympic Committee president Seiko Hashimoto admitted that "there were many problems", but said the country wants to host more international events in future.