The Asian Games 2026 open Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, with more than 11,000 athletes signed up, according to Inquirer.net. The coverage says the event involves a higher athlete count than the Summer Olympics, citing 10,700 athletes at the Paris 2024 Games. Organizers also acknowledge a last-minute increase in athletes and officials, which adds pressure to available accommodation.
Inquirer.net also frames the Games in broader context, describing them as the second most important multisports event after the Summer Olympic Games. It traces the competition’s history to its first edition in 1951 in New Delhi and notes the most recent prior Games were held in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, which were delayed by a year due to COVID-19. It says the previous Games took place in 2018 in Jakarta and that this is Japan’s third time hosting.
