Host city | Hiroshima, Japan | ||
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Nations participating | 42 | ||
Athletes participating | 6,828 | ||
Events | 337 in 34 sports | ||
Opening ceremony | October 2 | ||
Closing ceremony | October 16 | ||
Officially opened by |
Akihito Emperor of Japan |
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Torch lighter |
Aki Ichijo Yasunori Uchitomi |
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Main venue | Hiroshima Big Arch | ||
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The 1994 Asian Games also known as XII Asiad were held from October 2 to October 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. The main theme of this edition was to promote peace and harmony among Asian nations. It was emphasized by the host because the venue was the site of the first atomic bomb attack 49 years earlier. Due to the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq was suspended from the games.
There were a total number of 6,828 athletes and officials involved, from 42 countries, with a total number of 34 events. Debut sports at this edition of the Asiad were baseball, karate and modern pentathlon.
The official mascot of the XII Asiad is a pair of white doves. Poppo and Cuccu, male and female respectively, represent peace and harmony - the main theme of this edition of the Asian Games.
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named according to their official IOC designations and arranged according to their official IOC country codes in 1994.
The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Japan, is highlighted.
The Chinese had 11 athletes test positive for the banned drugs and anabolic steroids at the 1994 Asian Games. Less than a month before the Asian Games scandal at the 1994 world championships in Rome the Chinese had won 12 of the 16 women's swimming titles, with two of those nine world champions among those who tested positive at the Asian games.