[Asian Games] Hangzhou's 16-Day Battle Concludes... 2026 to be Held in Japan's Aichi and Nagoya

Korea Finishes 3rd Overall... Closing Ceremony Flag Bearer is Kim Hong-yeol

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games concluded its 16-day competition with the closing ceremony. The next 2026 Asian Games will be held in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City, Japan.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At 9 a.m. on the 8th (Korean time), the closing ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games took place for 85 minutes at the main venue of this event, the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. The ceremony was attended by domestic and foreign dignitaries, including Li Chang, Premier of the State Council, who is the second highest-ranking official in China.

With the night view of Hangzhou city as the backdrop, the closing ceremony began with a scene of blooming lotus flowers created using augmented reality technology around the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, known as the "Great Lotus." Then, a performance titled "A Flower of Memories for You" was held, reflecting on the sports festival enjoyed by 12,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

Afterwards, flag bearers and athletes from each country entered the stadium. South Korea was represented by Kim Hong-yeol (Hong10), who won a silver medal in the breaking event at this Games, carrying the Taegukgi flag. Breaking, karate, and water polo athletes returning on the 9th also appeared afterward. South Korea finished the Games ranked 3rd overall with 42 gold medals, 59 silver medals, and 89 bronze medals.

North Korea’s weightlifting 81kg category champion Ri Cheong-song carried the North Korean flag.

The Hangzhou Asian Games were held five years after the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, having been postponed by one year due to COVID-19.

At the closing ceremony, the Hangzhou Organizing Committee laid a "digital grass" made of about 40,000 fluorescent materials on the stadium floor to create a colorful and vibrant effect.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Hangzhou Organizing Committee handed over the Asian Olympic Council (OCA) tile and torch-shaped symbols to the organizing committee of the 20th Asian Games in 2026, to be held in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan. The next organizing committee presented a performance introducing regional culture and welcoming visitors three years from now. Japan is hosting the Summer Asian Games for the third time, following the 1958 Tokyo and 1994 Hiroshima Games.

Sashaolan, the general director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Hangzhou Asian Games, expressed applause for the athletes who shone at the Games and gratitude to all volunteers who dedicated themselves to the event during the closing ceremony.

As support staff greeted the audience asking them to remember Hangzhou, near the end of the ceremony, Chinese swimmer Wang Shun and the "Digital Giant," co-lighting the opening ceremony flame, appeared. After the Digital Giant watched the extinguishing of the flame alongside athletes from 45 NOCs and volunteers, it formed a heart above its head with both hands, waved, and disappeared above the stadium, marking the end of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.