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Revision as of 08:26, 21 January 2008 by Carl.bunderson (talk | contribs) (rv)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The 15th Asian Games, officially known as the XV Asiad, is Asia's Olympic-style sporting event that was held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to December 15, 2006. Doha was the first city in its region and only the second in West Asia (following Tehran in 1974) to host the games. There were 46 disciplines from 39 events scheduled to be contested.
It was the first time that all 45 member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia took part in this event. Also, Eurosport broadcasted the event, marking the first time that the European continent could watch this Asian sporting event.
The Games were marred by the death of South Korean athlete Kim Hyung-chil.
Medal count
| 2006 Asian Games medal count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Country | 
|
|
|
Total |
| 1 |  China |
165 | 88 | 63 | 316 |
| 2 |  Korea |
58 | 53 | 82 | 193 |
| 3 |  Japan |
50 | 71 | 77 | 198 |
| 4 |  Kazakhstan |
23 | 20 | 42 | 85 |
| 5 |  Thailand |
13 | 15 | 26 | 54 |
| 6 |  Iran |
11 | 15 | 22 | 48 |
| 7 |  Uzbekistan |
11 | 14 | 15 | 40 |
| 8 |  India |
10 | 17 | 26 | 53 |
| 9 |  Qatar (host) |
9 | 12 | 11 | 32 |
| 10 |  Chinese Taipei |
9 | 10 | 27 | 46 |
| 11 |  Malaysia |
8 | 17 | 17 | 42 |
| 12 |  Singapore |
8 | 7 | 12 | 27 |
| 13 |  Saudi Arabia |
8 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| 14 |  Bahrain |
7 | 10 | 4 | 21 |
| 15 |  Hong Kong, China |
6 | 12 | 10 | 28 |
| 16 |  DPR Korea |
6 | 9 | 16 | 31 |
| 17 |  Kuwait |
6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| 18 |  Philippines |
4 | 6 | 9 | 19 |
| 19 |  Vietnam |
3 | 13 | 7 | 23 |
| 20 |  United Arab Emirates |
3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 21 |  Mongolia |
2 | 5 | 8 | 15 |
| 22 |  Indonesia |
2 | 3 | 15 | 20 |
| 23 |  Syria |
2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 24 |  Tajikistan |
2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 25 |  Jordan |
1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 26 |  Lebanon |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 27 |  Myanmar |
0 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 28 |  Kyrgyzstan |
0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 29 |  Iraq |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 30 |  Macau, China |
0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 31 |  Pakistan |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 32 |  Sri Lanka |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| =33 |  Turkmenistan |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| =33 |  Laos |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 |  Nepal |
0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| =36 |  Afghanistan |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| =36 |  Bangladesh |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| =36 |  Yemen |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 428 | 423 | 542 | 1393 | |
The colour in the number indicate the medal added or stripped by one due to the failure of gender test.
Bidding process
On November 12, 2000, voting for the 2006 venue took place in Busan, South Korea. The voting involved the 41 members of the Olympic Council of Asia and consisted of three rounds, each round eliminating one of the bidding cities. After the first round, New Delhi was eliminated, with only two votes. The second round of voting, with three remaining candidates, gave Doha as the result.
| 2006 Asian Games bidding results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | NOC | Round 1 | Round 2 |
| Doha | Qatar
|
20 | 22 |
| Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia
|
13 | 13 |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong, China
|
6 | 6 |
| New Delhi | India
|
2 | − |
Under the regulations of the OCA, a candidate which gains half of the available votes will automatically be selected as the host, and the remaining rounds of voting will be cancelled. When Doha gained 22 out of 41 votes this meant they were selected to host the 2006 Asian Games. Most of Qatar's votes came from the unanimous support from West Asian countries.
After the major upset, Malaysia and Hong Kong, China expressed their disappointment. Malaysia said that the selection of Doha was ridiculous and that the selection of Doha was influenced by Qatar's economic wealth.
Torch relay
The torch relay has been integral to the Asian Games since 1958. The plans for the Doha 2006 torch relay were revealed by the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee on January 20, 2006.
The relay itself started on October 8, 2006 with a brief ceremony at the Doha Golf Club "Flame of Hospitality". With the involvement of over 3000 persons, the torch is crossed eight former Asian Games host countries and four Gulf Cooperation Council member states. The first pit stop was in New Delhi on October 11, 2006. In total the relay passed through 13 countries and 23 cities. The relay, which has a distance of 50,000 kilometres in 55 days, is the longest relay in the history of the Asian Games.
Below is a list of places visited by the torch:
- India – New Delhi
- South Korea – Busan
- Philippines – Manila
- Japan – Hiroshima
- People's Republic of China – Beijing, Guangzhou
- Indonesia – Jakarta
- Thailand – Bangkok
- Iran – Mashad, Esfahan, Tehran
Oman – Salalah, Muscat, Sohar- United Arab Emirates – Hatta, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi
- Kuwait – Kuwait City
- Bahrain – Manama
The torch travelled back to Doha held by Sheikh Joan Bin Hamad AL-Thani, and the journey around the city itself started on November 25, 2006 and lasted until the opening ceremony of the Games.
Mascot
The Doha Asian Games Organising Committee chose "Orry", a Qatari Oryx, as the official mascot of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.
Opening ceremony
Main article: 2006 Asian Games Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the Games was described by the media to be one of the most technologically spectacular multi-sports event ceremony, and as the best opening ceremony of any multi-sport event. It was viewed by 50,000 spectators in the Khalifa International Stadium, and famous guests such as the International Olympic Committee's Jacques Rogge, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Syrian President Bashar Assad. The opening ceremony was directed by David Atkins, who conducted the 2000 Summer Olympics opener.
The opening ceremony presented the culture of the Arab World as well as other Asian cultures and their histories. Several musical artists performed. The ceremony ended with the lighting of the torch on the Aspire Tower.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony featured the Arabic stories of a thousand years ago. It started with the same young boy as the "Seeker" in the opening ceremony. He flew on a magic carpet to a book of Arabian stories. "A Thousand and One Nights" featured stories such as Haroun Al-Raschid and the Dervish, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin and his Marvellous Lamp. The show used an array of dancers, horses, and special effects to portray the different stories. After that, the segment of "Land of the Oryx" was shown with the whirling of dance.
All 45 nations' athletes entered the stadium after the show's end. Park Tae-Hwan was announced as the best athlete of the Games, having won seven medals, three of them being golds from the swimming competitions. The ceremony also included a minute of silence in homage to the South Korean equestrian rider Kim Hyung-chil, who died during the competition.
After that, the OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah officially announced the Games closed and passed the OCA flag to the mayor of Guangzhou, Zhang Guangning, as the host of the next Asian Games in 2010.
A special 10 minutes in the final part of the closing ceremony showed a new China, known as "Oriental Charm", which featured Chinese culture. Afterwards, fireworks blazed around the stadium and brought the curtains down on the Games.
Sports
The sport events contested at the 2006 Asian Games are listed below. Officially there are 46 disciplines from 39 sports in contention. All events listed started after the opening ceremony except Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Football (Soccer), Table tennis, and Volleyball, which had preliminaries before the opening ceremony.
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Participating NOCs
Named and arranged after their List of IOC country codes, all 45 OCA members are participating in the Games. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that the National Olympic Committee contributed.
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Template:Fnb Chinese Taipei is the official International Olympic Committee designation the Republic of China
Athlete's death
Tragedy struck the Asian Games when Korean equestrian athlete Kim Hyung-chil died after falling off his horse on the morning of December 7 during the cross country competition which took place in the rain. The accident occurred at jump number eight during the cross-country stage of the three-day eventing competition. After the horse, named Bundaberg Black, rolled over him, he was taken to the hospital, with his death later confirmed by the organizing committee. Kim died shortly before noon Qatar time .
According to South Korea National Olympic Committee president Kim Jung Kil, sources on the course said that the horse mistimed his jump in the wet conditions and slipped. South Korean officials are asking for an inquiry to determine if mismanagement or rain was the cause of the tragedy.
"In my professional opinion, neither the weather nor the footing had any bearing on this accident. If the horse falls, it's like two tons of bricks falling on you. There is nothing you can do about it," said Andy Griffiths, the Games event's technical overseer.
Kim's father was an equestrian athlete for Korea in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the younger Kim won a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan on the same horse.
This is the eighth death linked to the 2006 Asian Games, and the first involving an athlete.
References
- THE ASIAN GAMES LIVE ON EUROSPORT
- "申辦亞運香港慘敗", Page A1, Apple Daily, November 13, 2000, quoting Dato’ Sieh Kok Chi, Honorary Secretary of the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
- 香港申亚失败心不服, 体育周报, November 13, 2000
- ^ Malaysia Amazed at Losing Asian Games to Qatar
- People's Daily
- Choice of Qatar for Asian Games prompts cries of foul
- ^ Doha Asian Games torch relay route revealed
- Torch ceremony marks countdown to Games
- ^ The 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 Torch Relay Route revealed
- "King of the Mile" Hicham El Guerrouj to Carry the Flame
- Mascot of Asian Games 2006
- Doha Asiad off to spectacular start
- Media fascinated by high-tech at Doha Asiad opening ceremony
- Asian Games open with a festival celebrating the Gulf
- Chinese culture to take spot at closing ceremony of Doha Asiad
- DAGOC mourns rider after fatal fall
- Asian Games: S. Korean rider dies after equestrian accident
- South Korean rider dies in jump fall
- South Korean rider dies in jump fall
- Asian Games roundup: Equestrian rider's death overshadows competition
- Tragedy strikes Games
- Koreans demand probe into death fall
- Asia Games death 'tragic accident'
- South Korean rider dies in jump fall
- Equestrian rider dies at Asian Games
External links
- Official Website
- Stagelink - Opening Ceremony backstage & show photos taken in Khalifa Stadium during 2005 and 2006
 Asian Games | ||
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| Summer Games | | |
| Winter Games | ||
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