The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to 27, 2010. Guangzhou was the second Chinese city to host the Games, after Beijing in 1990. A total of 9,704 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 476 events from 42 sports and disciplines (28 Olympic sports and 14 non-Olympic sports), making it the largest event in the history of the Games. It was also the last edition of the Games to have featured such a large amount of events, as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have enforced new hosting rules for future Games, beginning with the 2014 Games, scheduled to take place in Incheon, South Korea with 36 sports and disciplines set to feature.
The Games were co-hosted by Dongguan, Foshan and Shanwei, the three neighbouring cities. A total of 53 venues were used to host the events including 11 constructed for use at the Games. The design concept of the official logo of these Asian Games was based on the legend about the Guangzhou, featured a stylised calligraphic "Stone Statue of Five Goats in Yuexiu Hill", a symbol of the host city.
The opening and closing ceremonies were held along the Pearl River in Haixinsha Island, and was the first time in history that the opening ceremony for a major sports event was not held inside a stadium. The final medal tally was led by China, followed by South Korea and third place Japan. China set a new Games record with 199 gold medals. Three World and 103 Asian records were broken. In addition, the badminton men's singles gold medalist Lin Dan was voted as most valuable player (MVP). The President of Olympic Council of Asia Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah hailed the Games as "outstanding" and "one of the best ever".
Read more about 2010 Asian Games: Torch Relay, Calendar, Participating Nations
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