1954 Asian Games Explained

II Asian Games
Size:175px
Motto:Ever Onward
Host City:Manila, Philippines
Nations:18
Athletes:970
Events:77 in 8 sports
Opening:May 1, 1954
Closing:May 9, 1954
Opened By:Ramon Magsaysay
Athlete Oath:Martin Gison
Judge Oath:Antonio Delas Alas [1]
Torch Lighter:Enriquito Beech[2]
Stadium:Rizal Memorial Stadium
Previous:New Delhi 1951
Next:Tokyo 1958

The 1954 Asian Games (Filipino; Pilipino: Palarong Asyano 1954), officially known as the Second Asian GamesManila 1954 was a multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines, from May 1 to 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 ever since.[3] Jorge B. Vargas was the head of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (now known as Philippine Olympic Committee since 1976) 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.[4] The events were broadcast on radio live at DZRH and DZAQ-TV ABS-3 on delayed telecast.

Opening ceremony

The Games were formally opened by President Ramon Magsaysay on May 1, 1954, at 16:02 local time. Around 20,000 spectators filled the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila, for the opening ceremony. As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the cauldron 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.[5] [6]

Sports

The 1954 Asian Games featured eight sports divided into 10 events, aquatics included three events namely diving, swimming and water polo. This version of the Asian Games comprised more sports and events than the last one, as six sports and seven events were in the calendar of 1951 Asian Games. Three sports—boxing, shooting and wrestling—made their debut, while cycling was dropped out.[7]

Participating nations

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named and arranged according to their official IOC country codes and designations at the time.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees (by highest to lowest)

Calendar

In the following calendar for the 1954 Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held. The numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day. On the left, the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, and at the right, how many gold medals were won in that sport. There is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader.

OCOpening ceremonyEvent competitions1Event finalsCCClosing ceremony
width=200May 1954width=351st
Sat
width=352nd
Sun
width=353rd
Mon
width=354th
Tue
width=355th
Wed
width=356th
Thu
width=357th
Fri
width=358th
Sat
width=359th
Sun
width=50Gold
medals
Ceremonies bgcolor=#00cc33 align=centerOCbgcolor=#ee3333 align=centerCC
Athletics<-- 01 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 4bgcolor=#ffcc00 5bgcolor=#ffcc00 9bgcolor=#ffcc00 1230
Basketball<-- 01 -->●<-- 03 -->●<-- 04 -->●<-- 05 -->●<-- 07 -->●<-- 08 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 11
Boxing<-- 01 -->●<-- 06 -->●<-- 07 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 77
Diving<-- 01 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 14
Football<-- 01 -->●<-- 02 -->●<-- 03 -->●<-- 04 -->●<-- 05 -->●<-- 06 -->●<-- 07 -->●<-- 08 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 11
Shooting<-- 01 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 2bgcolor=#ffcc00 16
Swimming<-- 01 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 5bgcolor=#ffcc00 613
Water polo<-- 01 -->●<-- 06 -->●<-- 07 -->●<-- 08 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 11
Weightlifting<-- 01 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 1bgcolor=#ffcc00 3bgcolor=#ffcc00 37
Wrestling<-- 01 -->●<-- 02 -->●<-- 03 -->bgcolor=#ffcc00 77
Total gold medals4 13 10 15 5 10 20 77
May 19541st
Sat
2nd
Sun
3rd
Mon
4th
Tue
5th
Wed
6th
Thu
7th
Fri
8th
Sat
9th
Sun
Gold
medals

Medal table

See main article: 1954 Asian Games medal table. Japan led the medal table, athletes from Japan won most medals, including most gold, silver and bronze. Host nation, Philippines finished second with 45 total medals (including 14 gold).[8]

The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Philippines, is highlighted.

Notes and References

  1. Not formally named as Judge's Oath, it was a tradition then when an officiating representative (Judge) of the host nation formally approach the Head of State to read a statement from the Sport Officers and to request the Head of State to formally open the games.
  2. As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the cauldron 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.
  3. Manila Times May 9, 1954
  4. Manila Times May 10, 1954
  5. Manila Times May 2, 1954
  6. Web site: Asian Games  - Men  - High jump . . gbrathletics.com . July 11, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110615005525/http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/asg.htm. 15 June 2011 . live.
  7. Web site: Report of the First Asian Games held at New Delhi . . la84foundation.org . July 11, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110711234331/http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1951/BDCE27/BDCE27r.pdf. 11 July 2011 .
  8. Web site: Overall medal standings  - Manila 1954 . Olympic Council of Asia . ocasia.org . July 11, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120308143026/http://www.ocasia.org/Game/MWinner.aspx?AMWCode=6&GCode=1 . 2012-03-08 . dead .