The18thAsianGamescametoasuccessfulfinishwithacolorfulclosingceremonyattheGeloraBungKarnoMainStadiuminJakarta,Indonesia,onSeptember2.Itbroughtdownthecurtainonthe16-dayinternationalsportingeventwhichbeganonAugust18,andwasmarkedbyathletesrealizingtheirpotentialandsurpassingtheirlimits.
ItwasthesecondtimeJakartahostedtheeventandwasagreatillustrationofthe鈥淓nergyofAsia,鈥漴esultinginfiveAsianrecordsbeingbroken.Chineseswimmer,LiuXiang,setanewworldrecordinthewomen鈥檚50-meterbackstroke,whileJapaneseswimmer,RikakoIkee,wasnamedtheAsianGames鈥橫ostValuablePlayer,asshebecamethefirstathletetowinsixgoldmedalsattheevent.
Chinadominatedthemedaltableatthe40-sporteventforthe10thtime,with132gold,92silverand65bronzemedals,followedbyJapanandSouthKorea.Asthehostof18thAsianGames,Indonesiarankedfourthamongthe45participatingcountriesandregions.
Chinaachievedoutstandingresultsinthesportsitsathletestraditionallydominate,suchastabletennisanddiving.Resultsinothersportsthatheldpotential,likesynchronizedswimming,werealsoremarkable.
InthethreeBigBallsports,theChinesebasketballteamssweptthegoldmedalsinboththemen鈥檚andwomen鈥檚competitions;theChinesewomen鈥檚footballteamhaditsbestresultinthepast10yearswithasilvermedal;andtheChinesewomen鈥檚volleyballteamkepttheiredgeandwonthegoldmedal.
Esportswasintroducedforthefirsttimeatthe18thAsianGamesasademonstrationeventandwillbedevelopedintoaformaloneforthenextGames.ChineseathleteswonthefirstesportsgoldmedalinthehistoryoftheAsianGames.
China鈥檚delegationof845athleteshadanaverageageof24.4.SeventeenofthemwereOlympicchampions,while70percentofthemhadnoexperienceateithertheAsianGamesortheOlympics.
Accordingtothedelegation鈥檚SecretaryGeneralLiuGuoyong,the2018AsianGameshelpedathletesgainexperienceandgetafeelformajorinternationalsportingevents.Atthesametime,theywereabletogaugetheirpreparednessforthe2020TokyoSummerOlympicsasamid-termtest.
TheflaghandovereventattheclosingceremonymarkedtheAsianGamesenteringintoHangzhoutime,whenXuLiyi,MayorofHangzhou,eastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince,receivedtheflagfromtheOlympicCouncilofAsia.ArtistsandHangzhoucitizenrepresentativesstagedamarvelousperformancefeaturingtheprofoundhistoryanddistinctivecultureofHangzhou,welcomingfriendsfromallovertheworld.
In2022,HangzhouwillbethethirdChinesecitytohosttheAsianGames,afterBeijingin1990andGuangzhouin2010.
(PhotosbyXinhuaNewAgency)
CopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto1.SuBingtianofChinacelebratesafterwinningthemen鈥檚100-meterfinalonAugust26
2.TheHangzhouTimeperformanceisstagedduringtheclosingceremonyattheGeloraBungKarnoMainStadiumonSeptember2
3.ZhuTing(center)ofChinacompetesduringthewomen鈥檚volleyballfinalbetweenChinaandThailandonSeptember1
4.Theesportsevent,ArenaofValor,betweenChinaandThailandtakesplaceonAugust26