Asian Games 2026

[PHI2019 309]

3 minutes ago, Fly_like_a_don said:

Wait how Junior and Youth Events are added to Asian Games when there are standalone Games for the age group 

This is a mystery for me too.

 

I’ve always wondered myself why they have to include events for age group athletes when there’s always the Asian Youth Games. But this thing has happened in past Games. This could be attempt to give younger sailors more exposure in the sport.

[MHSN 3,771]

one more weird thing about the programme, there will be no 1000m events in canoeing. I assume the lake/course/whatever they are preparing for the games is short, so the maximum distance is 500m. 

 

actually all canoeing events in Nagoya will be 500m with the exception of women's C1 which is 200m.

therefore both MC1-1000 and MK1-1000 had been replaced with 500m events.

 

they also added two mixed events for the first time, K2-500 and C2-500

 

==================

 

also, athletics will have two more events comparing to the 2028 Olympics program. both Marathon racewalking events (42km) will be there too alongside half marathon racewalking (which is an Olympic event)

[MHSN 3,771]

full list of 2026 Asian Games events in a PDF format

 

OCA did last minute changes before so this is not 100% final, let's say 99% final

Sports Program.pdf

[JoshMartini007 2,762]

So among missing Olympic events:

 

• No open water swimming
• Boxing is missing men's -65kg, women's -57kg, and women's -70kg
• Canoeing swapped the men's K1 1000m and C1 1000m with 500m events
• Golf is missing the mixed team event, but has separate men's and women's teams
• Artistic Gymnastics is missing the mixed team event
• Rowing is missing costal rowing and the men's 4-, men's 8+, women's 4x and women's 8+
• Sailing is missing the men's and women's formula kite and the mixed Nacra 17.
• Sport climbing swapped speed with speed 4.
• Table tennis won't have mixed team, but will have men's and women's team

 

Boxing missing events is a bit surprising, but that could be due to the unknown status of boxing so I wouldn't be surprised if they add the events back in. The other events I don't see being added either because of lack of venue or being replaced with an alternative. I'd like to see the missing sailing events added, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

We've already talk about the bizarre youth sailing events and two equestrian jumping height events, but I'd also like to point out that for eSports they put Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and The King of Fighters XV into one team event called "Competitive Martial Arts." Was there some kind of maximum events eSports could have?

[MHSN 3,771]

18 hours ago, JoshMartini007 said:

 

• Sport climbing swapped speed with speed 4.

oh I missed this. it's really weird that they are considering it a different event, it's the same event with a different format. (it's like having the basketball tournament in direct elimination and call it something else)

 

actually I somehow prefer this speed 4 format, I wonder if OCA just tried to do something funny or this means the IFSC is leaning toward using this format more in the future ? (and maybe one day at the Olympics/World Champs)

[JoshMartini007 2,762]

Speed 4 was nice to watch at the World Games. It also lessens the chance of a top athlete getting eliminated early on. It brings consistency to the event which may or may not be good depending on who you ask.

 

[PHI2019 309]

On 8/23/2025 at 3:19 AM, MHSN said:

one more weird thing about the programme, there will be no 1000m events in canoeing. I assume the lake/course/whatever they are preparing for the games is short, so the maximum distance is 500m. 

 

actually all canoeing events in Nagoya will be 500m with the exception of women's C1 which is 200m.

therefore both MC1-1000 and MK1-1000 had been replaced with 500m events.

 

they also added two mixed events for the first time, K2-500 and C2-500

 

 

The course for the canoe sprint competition is 500 meters long. 
 

https://aichi-sc.jp/sportscamp-e/pdf/Miyoshi_Lake_Canoe_Race_Course.pdf
 

Why the host don’t just host both rowing and canoe sprint at the same venue is a mystery. The course for rowing was used for the 2005 world championships and can also be used for canoe sprint.

 

https://aichi-sc.jp/sportscamp-e/pdf/Nagaragawa_International_Regatta_Course.pdf

[MHSN 3,771]

4 hours ago, PHI2019 said:

Why the host don’t just host both rowing and canoe sprint at the same venue is a mystery. The course for rowing was used for the 2005 world championships and can also be used for canoe sprint.

yeah that's weird

 

I wonder if Japan being weak in 1000m events had anything to do with this decision.

 

I mean it's not like they didn't try to make the events for Japan-friendly. they dropped events from sports like Boxing, Kurash, JJ (where Japan is weak) and added an extra event for Karate.

[heywoodu 15,997]

15 hours ago, JoshMartini007 said:

Speed 4 was nice to watch at the World Games. It also lessens the chance of a top athlete getting eliminated early on. It brings consistency to the event which may or may not be good depending on who you ask.

 

So it also takes away the absolute need to bring your max every single time (unless you compete against one of the continental spot climbers that are 5-6 seconds slower), which I think is unfortunate. Smaller chance for surprises as well.

 

I do have an idea they might use in the future. If you make the wall twice as wide, you can have Speed 8, which sounds like an awesome and exciting new urban format.

[MHSN 3,771]

based on what I read on the handbooks, for the first time we have restrictions on the number of teams in team sports. this is what I found (not necessarily 100% accurate)

 

as we know in half of these sports only a few countries register to participate. probably even less than that quota number. but it will be a big deal in some sports and will deny some weaker countries to participate. 

 

OCA was playing with this idea for a while and applied it in couple of sports in Hangzhou. this is the right thing to do, still not perfect but better than nothing, nobody wants to see Afghanistan women's volleyball team or Maldives women's handball team in the Games.

 

actually having a qualification method somehow encourages average/above-average teams to participate. 

 

Water polo / 8 men + 6 women

apparently the Asian Aquatics Championship in India will act as the qualifier

 

Baseball / 8 men

top 8 from Asian ranking of 31 December 2025

 

Softball / 8 women

apparently top 8 from the 2025 Asian Cup in China

 

Basketball / 12 men + 12 women

top 12 from the FIBA Asia Ranking (date not mentioned)

 

3x3 Basketball / 16 men + 16 women

top 16 of FIBA 3x3 National Federations Ranking for U23 category (date not mentioned)

 

Cricket / 10 men + 8 women (not official)

officially everything is a TBD, but other official  sources claims those numbers, most probably based on the T20 ranking.

 

Football / TBD

 

Handball / 12 men + 8 women

no qualification method mentioned, I also couldn't find anything from the other sources, I assume the latest Asian Championship will play a role here.

 

Field Hockey / TBD

apparently everything will be decided by FIH. but the initial schedule is set for 12 teams in each gender's competition. Hockey usually had separate qualification tournaments in past.

 

Kabaddi

apparently there is no limitation on the number of teams in this sport, it seems they do not expect more than 12 teams in each gender.

 

Rugby / 12 men + 8 women

no qualification method mentioned

 

Volleyball / 16 men + 16 women

no qualification method mentioned