Asian Games Officially Kick Off Today, Nepal Aims for Gold Medal

Led by athlete Gajraj Joshi, Nepal first participated in the Asian Games in 1951. Since then, Nepal has been a regular member of the Asiad. The 20th edition of Asia’s largest sporting event is set to begin this Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, marking a significant participation for Nepal. While only nine athletes competed in athletics for Nepal in the inaugural event, this time, 135 athletes (57 women and 78 men) will compete across 21 sports. At the opening ceremony, boxers Chandra Thapa Magar and female athlete Manamati Bista will bear Nepal’s flag during the march past.

Japan is hosting the Asiad for the third time. The competition will run from September 24 to October 8. Organizers have announced that over 11,000 athletes from 45 countries will participate in 43 sports. To host the games, Aichi Nagoya has spent approximately 2.4 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 369 billion Nepali rupees. For Nepalese athletes, the Asian Games hold greater importance than the Olympics, as participation here does not require passing a qualifying stage, unlike the Olympics. However, with the qualification processes now starting for future events, participation for Nepali athletes may become more challenging.

N epal holds the record for the highest participation in the history of the Asiad. This time, the National Sports Council had initially planned to participate in 29 sports, but following a policy change by the government under the Rastriya Swatantra Party to reduce the number of sports and restrict sending unnecessary personnel, participation was finalized in 21 sports. The Nepali contingent, including athletes, coaches, managers, technical staff, medical personnel, journalists, and officials, consists of a total of 211 members. Nepal allocated a budget of 110 million rupees for the Asiad.

To date, Nepal has won 3 silver and 23 bronze medals at the Asiad. This time, the Sports Council is preparing with the goal of winning at least one gold and doubling the medal tally. Preparations began immediately after the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games concluded. Under the ‘Mission 2026’ campaign, the National Team Preparation Committee was formed, with ten sports undergoing extended and intensive training phases. This is the first major preparation campaign in Nepal’s sporting history targeting the Asian Games. With the motto ‘Gold with Glory,’ the campaign aspires for Nepal to achieve a better medal haul than ever before.

Regular training under Mission 2026 has been ongoing for included sports for a long time. Other sports initiated training only after confirming their participation in the Asiad. Some athletes have trained domestically, while others prepared abroad. For example, the kabaddi and boxing teams trained in India. Golfers like Sadbhaw Acharya have trained in the United States, and Subhash Tamang has been in India. Table tennis players Yuvraj Paudel and Sanyog Kapali spent time training in South Korea. Athletes from Usuko Thaulu’s team trained for several weeks in China, while cyclist Usha Khanal trained in Canada. However, complaints have emerged about the lack of priority given to potential medalists. Karate athlete Erika Gurung and the kumite team requested special foreign training before departing for Japan, but the request was not fulfilled. Speaking as the Deputy Chief of Mission, Tasi Ghale expressed dissatisfaction: “Not all athletes should be treated the same way. Priority should have been given to those with higher medal prospects regarding training arrangements, which did not happen.” Since Nepal began winning medals at the Asiad in 1986, there has been steady improvement. The Nepali team, aiming to secure at least 10 medals—doubling their previous count—will reveal their performance in the coming two weeks.