SLEEPLESS IN NAGOYA: Delegates scramble for beds as Asian Games get underway

NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — The Asian Games open in Japan on Saturday with 2028 Olympics places up for grabs, fast-rising talents of world sport in action and thousands of athletes staying on a cruise ship in typhoon season.

More than 17,000 competitors and officials are expected at the continent’s biggest sporting spectacular, which takes place in Nagoya and the wider Aichi prefecture until 4 October.

The number of participants — more than the Olympics — has been a sore point for stretched-to-the-limit organizers, who initially expected 15,000 and have had to scramble to find accommodation for the rest.

They opted from the start to house athletes in temporary accommodation in a bid to cut costs, ranging from a cruise liner and wooden containers to hotel rooms.

Organizers say that the 20th edition of the Games, which were first held in 1951, will be “the most spectacular for generations.”

Between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes and officials will stay on the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena, which usually features 571 cabins, seven swimming pools, eight restaurants and nine bars.

Cruise ships have been used previously as accommodation at international sporting events, but never on this scale.

The unusual accommodation plans have been met with concern by some countries, with India even building their own replica container huts to prepare athletes for their stay.

On Monday, South Korean sports officials branded the facilities as “the worst” accommodation ever at the Games and said the beds were too short.

With just days to go, a Korean Olympic committee official also told AFP that there was “a serious shortage of accommodation.”

Organizers are adamant that everyone will have a bed and confident that the typhoon season that usually visits Japan in September and October will not dampen the party.

Weather has already disrupted preparations, with record rainfall forcing athletes to evacuate their accommodation briefly last week.

Rainwater also seeped into some competition venues, although organizers said there was no serious damage. More rain is forecast this week.

Athletes from 45 countries and territories will compete in more than 40 sports across the two weeks.

Basketball and football are already under way, with several more events set to start before Saturday’s glittering opening ceremony.

As always at the Asian Games, Olympics staples such as athletics and swimming will sit side-by-side with regional favorites like sepak takraw and kabaddi.

In a bid to attract younger viewers there will be eSports, breakdancing and BMX cycling.

Padel, the fast-growing racket sport, and mixed martial arts will make their Asian Games debuts.

The Games will function as qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in seven sports including surfing, tennis, archery and squash.