▲ Jeong Jin-wan, president of the Korea Paralympic Committee, hands over the team flag to Chef de Mission Park Heung-sik during the delegation ceremony for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games held at the Icheon Training Center of the Korea Paralympic Committee in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 6th.
The fierce challenges of athletes with disabilities are set to begin in Nagoya, Japan, where the excitement of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has yet to settle.
The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games will open on the 18th and run for a week of competition until the 24th across Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, and Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
The opening ceremony will take place at 6:00 p.m. on the 18th at the Nagoya Mizuho Athletics Stadium, while certain events such as badminton and boccia will begin their competition schedules prior to the opening ceremony.
Approximately 4,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions are expected to participate in this tournament, competing for medals across about 500 medal events in 18 sports.
The roots of the Asian sports festival for athletes with disabilities trace back to the FESPIC Games held in Oita, Japan, in 1975.
These games continued until the Kuala Lumpur tournament in Malaysia in 2006, and the current Asian Para Games format was launched in Guangzhou, China, in 2010.
Guangzhou marked the official inaugural event, making this the fifth edition following the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta, and 2022 Hangzhou Games held in 2023.
This marks the first time that the Asian Para Games under the current system is being held in Japan.
The event is organized by the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) and hosted by the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games Organizing Committee.
All 18 sports in this tournament consist of official Paralympic events.
Chess, canoeing, lawn bowls, go, and rowing, which were held at the preceding Hangzhou Games, have been excluded, while wheelchair rugby has been added.
A variety of events will be held, ranging from sports with distinct characteristics unique to disability sports, such as boccia and goalball, to familiar events like athletics, swimming, shooting, and table tennis.
Athletes compete divided into sports classes according to their impairment types and physical functions.
Because competitions for multiple classes are held even within the same sport, athletes will compete for over 500 gold medals across the 18 sports.
The tournament slogan is "Imagine One Heart," conveying the message of breaking down barriers between people with and without disabilities and uniting hearts through sports.
It forms a pair with the slogan of the preceding Asian Games, "Imagine One Asia."
The mascot "Uzumin" is a combination of the Japanese word "uzu," meaning whirlpool, and "izumi," meaning spring.
It embodies the desire for the passionate enthusiasm of the athletes to gather like a whirlpool in the host region, and for the inspiration born there to gush forth like a spring and spread throughout Asia.
This tournament operates with competition venues and athlete accommodations distributed across different locations.
Athletics, swimming, boccia, fencing, and other events will be held in Nagoya, while shooting and table tennis will take place in other areas of Aichi Prefecture.
Cycling athletes will compete in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
South Korea is dispatching a delegation of 357 members, including 214 athletes across all 18 sports, aiming for 21 or more gold medals.
The closing ceremony concluding the week-long challenge will be held at 6:00 p.m. on the 24th at the Mizuho Athletics Stadium.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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