The artistic cycling duo from Macau took a silver medal. (MAIGOC) (ATR) The Asian Indoor Games kick off with cycle acrobatics and electronic sports preliminaries, an event that the president of Olympic Council of Asia says is part of a strategy to include all sports and athletes.
Speed chess, dance sport and artistic cycling were among the first events underway in Macau to start the Second AIG on Oct. 27.
"We believe sports includes all sports and we have to support every athlete," said OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah at a press conference during the games.
"In this way, we are giving all sports, all youths a chance to participate."
The first AIG, held in 2005, was part of an OCA plan to create space for sports not in the Olympics or Asian Games. Some entries are unique to Asia.
Dragon dance and two events of lion dance are on the schedule. Dragon dance involves a team holding a long dragon puppet on poles and executing a dramatic, elegant dance. A lion dance duo is covered in a bright costume and imitates the animal's actions with acrobatics and dance.
Sepaktakraw, a Southeast Asian sport, is on the roster as hoop sepaktakraw. In this form, a team must maneuver a rattan ball through a hoop with grace and agility.
Muai Thai kickboxing, kabbadi and xiangqi, a strategic board game, are also on the schedule.
Other sports on the calendar are known worldwide; some with Olympic potential, others probably not.
There is a skateboarding event under the extreme sports category, along with BMX freestyle, inline stunt skating Jacques Rogge and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah try electronic sports in Macau. (MAIGOC)and indoor climbing. Thailand has taken an early medal lead in extreme sports with three inline stunt golds.
Cycle ball and artistic cycling and played and performed on a court. Cycle ball is like indoor hockey, except players use their wheels to pass and shoot instead of a stick. Artistic cycling involves singles or pairs executing gymnastics on a bicycle.
Electronic sports – video game – preliminaries are underway. Medals are awarded for top finishes in each of three games: Need for Speed, a car racing game; NBA Live, a basketball simulator; and Winning Eleven, a soccer game.
"I think the games are successful because you can see the smiles on the participants' faces when they win a gold medal, a silver medal, a bronze medal, or even on the faces of the participants that don't win any medal. Participation is what is behind the Asian Indoor Games," said Sheikh Ahmad.
He also hinted that an OCA meeting next year may discuss establishing an Asian Martial Arts Games or a machine sports games that would include events such as jet skiing. Smaller games would give smaller cities a chance to host an event, he said.
"Always Asia will have something new," said the Sheikh. Artistic BMX bicycling is performed on half pipes and slopes like a skate park. (Getty Images)
"We are taking some risks. We cannot guarantee the result."
The inaugural Asian Beach Games, also part of the OCA strategy, are set for Oct. 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.
IOC President Jacques Rogge and Beijing Coordination Commission chair Hein Verbruggen came from Beijing to the opening ceremony on Oct. 26. Also among the guests were Hong Kong NOC president Timothy Fok and China NOC deputy president Yu Zaiqing, both IOC members, as well as Carlos Nuzman, who is also president of the Brazil Olympic Committee.
Three thousand athletes from 45 countries are competing in the Games, which close on Nov. 3.
The next edition is scheduled for Hanoi, Vietnam in 2009.
Your best source for information about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
