Just announced this week, Hangzhou, China has been awarded hosting duties of the 2022 Asian Games. The Games, held every four years, see top athletes from all over Asia convene to compete across 44 total sports, including swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo.
The most recent edition of the event was held in Incheon, South Korea last September, with heavy hitters such as China’s Sun Yang and Ning Zetao, Japan’s Ryosuke Irie and Kosuke Hagino, as well as Singapore’s Joseph Schooling all earning hardware in their respective races. After winning an incredible six individual medals, Hagino was named “Most Valuable Player – MVP” of the entire 2014 Games.
For the 2022 edition, the city of Hangzhou was the only bidder, but marks the second Chinese city to be awarded a major multi-sport event. Beijing has previously been selected as the 2022 Winter Olympic host, meaning that the country will see both key international productions taking place the same year.
China has experience hosting the Asian Games in particular, having already been the site of the competition in 1990 in Beijing, as well as in 2010 in Guangzhou. Hangzhou is the capital of the Zhejiang Province and is home to approximately 8.9 million citizens. The city is also home to e-Commerce giant, Alibaba, whose headquarters have resided in Hangzhou since the company’s inception in 1999.