Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Open Today With Goal of 3rd Overall

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The 20th Asian Games, a sports festival for people across Asia, officially opens with the opening ceremony this evening (September 19). Dispatching a delegation of over 1,000 athletes across 41 sports, South Korea embarks on a 16-day journey with the goal of finishing 3rd overall.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The torch, which toured various regions including Aichi Prefecture over the past four weeks, has moved to Mizuho Park in Nagoya, the venue for the opening ceremony, to announce the start of the 20th Asian Games.

Under the slogan "Imagine One Asia," the tournament features some 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and the Refugee Team competing in 43 sports for 469 gold medals over 16 days.

The opening ceremony, set to begin at 6 p.m. today, will take place at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium, which was built in 1941 and underwent five years of renovation for this event.

South Korea has submitted entries across 41 sports, with a delegation of 1,051 people, including national athletes and officials, setting out in pursuit of gold.

Table tennis player Shin Yubin and rower Kim Dong-yong will serve as the flag bearers for the opening ceremony, leading the South Korean delegation's entrance.

The goal is to secure 40 to 45 gold medals and firmly maintain the 3rd overall ranking held since the Jakarta-Palembang Games.

World-class stars who shone at the Paris Olympics, such as badminton world powerhouse An Se-young and fencing star Oh Sang-uk, are out in full force. The baseball national team, led by Kim Doyoung, aims for its fifth consecutive gold medal, while the men's soccer team looks to bounce back from the World Cup disaster and capture its fourth consecutive gold.

Esports events such as League of Legends, featuring global superstar Faker, are expected to once again become a medal mine for South Korea, an "advanced PC bang nation," following the Hangzhou Games.

Seong Seungmin, the first-ever female South Korean modern pentathlon Olympic medalist, will race toward our delegation's first gold medal in the women's individual event tomorrow morning.

(Video by: Park Jin-ho, Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing: Hwang Ji-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.