Hangzhou has arrived with Hangzhou 2022

Image: Xia Yang & HAGOC (Facebook)

The Deputy Mayor of Hangzhou (Zhejiang, China) Chen Weiqiang has dismissed suggestions that the Chinese City should bid for the Olympics despite receiving high praise over the staging of the Asian Games which ended on October 8^th.

‘inside the games’ stated that more than 12,500 athletes from 45 nations competed in 40 sports across 15 days of competition in what was the biggest Asian Games on record.

The 2022 Asian Games, officially the 19^th Asian Games and also known as Hangzhou 2022, was a continental multisport event which was held from September 23^rd to October 8^th, 2023 in Hangzhou, China.

‘inside the games’ further stated that the Games, which were originally scheduled to be held last year only to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have been hailed as a big success.

The 56 venues used for the Games, including 12 newly-built, have also been considered as “Olympic standard”, suggesting Hangzhou has the capability of holding a future edition of the Games.

The Hangzhou officials have expressed their desire to host multisport events but insist there has been no talk about a potential Olympic bid in the near future.

Said Weiqiang, who is also the Executive Secretary General of Hangzhou 2022, “The venues for the Asian Games are excellent. They were highly rated and they are eligible to hold large multisport events, including the Olympic Games. After the close of the Asian Games, what we are focused on is how the venues can be even more extensively used by the people. We haven’t thought about whether we can hold the Olympic Games.”

Weiqiang claimed Hangzhou had achieved their goal of delivering a “safe and streamlined” Asian Games.

He said, “This Games has created a strong Hangzhou brand. The professional organisation of the competition, logistics, services, facilities, and equipment have been widely hailed by the athletes, technical officials, team officials, and media. Hangzhou has been fundamentally changed – it is fair to say that the Hangzhou Asian Games is a key driver of the take-off of Hangzhou City. We have seen our future direction clearer and our development goals more firm.”

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Acting Director General Vinod Kumar Tiwari declared Hangzhou 2022 as “one of the best Asian Games ever. The standard of the Games has been very, very high. We are happy with it.”

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is an independent, non-Governmental, nonprofit organization that governs sports in Asia. The OCA was established in 1982 in New Delhi (India). It has 45- member National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The OCA’s headquarters are in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait.

A National Olympic Committee is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the NOCs are responsible for organizing their people’s participation in the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a non-governmental sports organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss Civil Code.

The OCA Honorary Life Vice-President Wei Jizhong also believes that Hangzhou has set the standard for future hosts due to the cutting-edge technology used during the Asian Games – “The Hangzhou Asian Games is hosted when the world is moving into the era of digital economy. It is the first Asian Games hosted in such a digital era. The success of the Asian Games has provided the OCA with an opportunity to establish the basic criteria for the upcoming Asian Games in the future. We believe that the organiser of the future Asian Games will be able to introduce further improvement. We don’t rank Asian Games against other Games on who was the best. But, in terms of the Games in China, I give it a mark of 99. Why 99? There is always room for improvement.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

• Tags »
• China
• Hangzhou

« Previous News: Scotiabank Arena multiphase renovation plans
» Next News: The ‘Triangle’ apt site for Oxford United home