Hiroshima Asiad closed, China confirms supremacy
Hiroshima Asiad closed, China confirms supremacy
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuter): The curtain came down on the 12th
Asian Games on Sunday after 15 days of Chinese domination, the
return of Ma's Family Army and a refreshing lack of drug
scandals.
"In the name of the Olympic Council of Asia...I declare the
Games closed," intoned OCA President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-
Sabah, bringing to an end the record gathering of 6,800 athletes
and officials from 43 nations.
Amid lasers, fireworks, samurai warriors, the dousing of the
Games flame and a volcano erupting with doves of peace, the
athletes bid farewell to the Games which saw superpower China
dominate with 137 gold medals, 92 silvers and 60 bronzes.
Nobody came even close -- runner-up was South Korea with 63
golds and hosts Japan had to grin and bear it as they were
relegated into third place again, with 59.
China's medal haul was considerably down on its 1990 Games
total of 183, due partly to the participation of five ex-Soviet
republics for the first time, two placed fourth and fifth.
Kazakhstan mined 25 golds and Uzbekistan 10, signaling a
fundamental change in Asia's sporting picture bound to be even
more marked by the time Asia's top athletes gather for the next
Games, in Bangkok in 1998.
Looking to the future, Sheikh Ahmad said the size of the Games
would have to be restricted.
"There should be 25 or 26 sports maximum," he said during a
news conference to express his delight over the Games.
Humble in victory, China downplayed their domination and
praised other nations for a general rise in standards at the
Games which saw 24 world records and 59 Asian marks broken.
"There were so many Games records set I lost count," said Wei
Jizhong, of China's National Olympic Committee.
"This means that the level of sports in Asia has developed and
generally speaking has risen," he said.
China was robbed of a perfect end to their golden chase on
Sunday, losing both volleyball and soccer finals, the last medals
to be awarded.
Uzbekistan
Unfancied Uzbekistan grabbed gold in the soccer with a 4-2
victory over players from China's new professional league, and
Japan got some consolation from taking the volleyball title,
coming back from a two-set deficit to clinch victory.
In the final day of field and track, China took four titles,
including all three of the women's events, but a feud between
supercoach Ma Junren and the Chinese sporting establishment
tarnished the gloss of the on-track action.
China ended up with a tally of 22 athletics golds, 18 silvers
and eight bronzes from 43 events. Only seven other nations
managed to win a title.
Ma, whose stable of world-beating athletes took six golds,
four silvers and two bronzes, traded public barbs with the
Chinese Olympic Committee's Wei after Qu Yunxia took the 1,500
metres title in four minutes 12.48 seconds, well outside the
world mark she set last year of 3:50.46.
Reacting to comments by Wei that he was money-crazy and
overtrained his athletes, Ma said: "So what if we overtrain, we
don't take his money."
Ma's comment appeared a clear swipe at sports policies of the
central government in Beijing which has been trying in vain to
bring the maverick, but highly successful, coach to heel.
Qatari athletes could look on happily as the Games flag was
lowered.
Mohammed Sulaeman, bronze medalist at the Barcelona Olympics,
added the 1,500 men's title to the hat trick of golds in the
shorter distances garnered by the tiny Gulf sheikdom.
Qatar's Talal Mansoor was the star of the men's track events,
winning the 100 meters sprint for the third time, taking the 200
meters and then announcing his retirement.
Fellow Qatari soldier Ibrahim Ismail Muftah won the 400
meters, completing the Qatari golden haul.
The Games were also declared practically free from the scourge
of doping.
Medical officials said they had registered only one positive
test, on Thai soccer captain Kadalee Sirisak. This compares with
three positives during the last Games in Beijing.
Athletics -- Page 10