Asia's Olympic-scale games were born in 1949
At the 1948 London Olympics, Indian IOC delegate Guru Dutt Sondhi proposed a continental festival to show post-colonial unity without war. New Delhi hosted the first Asiad in 1951. Politics repeatedly barred nations—and nearly sank the movement twice.
The Asian Games, or Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event every four years. The Asian Games Federation ran editions from 1951 until 1978; the Olympic Council of Asia has organized them since 1982. The IOC recognizes the Games as the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympics. Nine nations have hosted; forty-six have competed, though Israel was excluded after 1974.
Precursors included the Far Eastern Championship Games, first held in Manila in 1913 with six nations and ten editions through 1934. Japan's insistence on Manchu Empire participation and the 1934 Sino-Japanese War ended the series. After World War II, Sondhi argued a new competition would display Asian sporting achievement; the Asian Athletic Federation formed in New Delhi on 13 February 1949.
Cold-war recognition fights shaped the roster. Indonesia barred Israel and Taiwan in 1962, costing IOC sponsorship. Tehran 1974 admitted China, North Korea, and Mongolia while Israel still competed. Pakistan withdrew hosting 1978; Bangkok stepped in, but Taiwan and Israel were again excluded, prompting IOC threats to ban athletes from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The OCA formed in November 1981 excluding both; Taiwan returned as Chinese Taipei in 1990 Beijing.
Symbolism and scale evolved. Motto Ever Onward and a sixteen-ray sun emblem date to 1949. Mascots began in 1982 New Delhi. Hangzhou 2022 set a record 481 finals across 40 sports; from 2018 the OCA capped sports at 40 aligned with the next Summer Olympics. Only seven delegations have competed at every Asiad since 1951, spanning South and Southeast Asia from the subcontinent to the Pacific rim.
Source: Asian Games
