The First Asian Games

12 Nov 2010 - The Guangzhou Asian Games will soon be underway. It all started for the Asian Games at 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Sportsmen from China and the Philippines were reminiscing about having an event where Asian athletes could call their own. This led to the formation of the Asian Athletic Federation, and the announcement of the start of the Asian Games. On March 1951, 489 athletes from 11 countries came to New Delhi, India to show their support and compete. The first ever gold medalist was a Singaporean - N.C. Kok, who won the 1500 meters swimming freestyle gold. The Games were also notable for Japan's first-place performance, a showing made more noticeable because they were barred from the London Games for initiating the Pacific war. However, their misdeeds in warfare did not prevent them from flexing their sporting muscles.