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