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1954 Asian Games

II Asian Games
Second Asiad's official logo (cropped).jpg
Logo of the 1954 Asian Games
Host city Manila, Philippines
Nations participating 18
Athletes participating 970
Events 77 in 8 sports
Opening ceremony May 1
Closing ceremony May 9
Officially opened by President Ramón Magsaysay
Athlete's Oath Martin Gison
Judge's Oath Antonio Delas Alas
Torch lighter Enriquito Beech
Main venue Rizal Memorial Stadium
1951 1958  >

The 1954 Asian Games (Filipino: Ika-2 Palaro ng Asya) or II Juegos Asiáticos in Spanish (officially known as the Second Asian GamesManila 1954) was a multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines from May 1 to May 9, 1954. A total of 970 athletes from 19 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 76 events from eight sports. The number of participating NOCs and athletes were larger than the previous Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1951. This edition of the games has a different twist where it did not implement a medal tally system to determine the overall champion but a pointing system. The pointing system is a complex system where each athlete were given points according to their achievement like position in athletics or in swimming. In the end the pointing system showed to be worthless as it simply ranked the nations the same way in the medal tally system. The pointing system was not implemented in future games eversince.Jorge B. Vargas was the head of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (In 1976, was renamed as Philippine Olympic Committee) and the Manila Asian Games Organizing Committee. With the second-place finish of the Philippines, only around 9,000 spectators attended the closing ceremony at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The events were broadcast on radio live at DZRH and DZAQ-TV ABS-3 on delayed telecast.

The Games were formally opened by President Ramon Magsaysay on May 1, 1954, at 16:02 local time. Around 20,000 spectators fill the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila for the opening ceremony. As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the couldron were excluded from the Opening Ceremony to preserve the tradition of the Olympic Games. The torch ceremony were returned at the 1958 Asian Games. The host however gave a solution by giving a special citation to the last athlete to enter the parade. The Philippines, as host, was the last country to enter the stadium. The flag bearer for the Philippines squad was Andres Franco, who won a gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games in high jump event, the sole gold medal of any Filipino in the athletics events of the previous Asian Games.


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