Asian athletes gathered for the 3rd Asian Youth Games (AYG) to represent their home nations in this continent-wide competition. Founded by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the AYG had its first run in Singapore in 2009, with 1,400 athletes aged 14 to 17 years old competing in 9 sports categories. The monumental event launched the careers of future Olympians like Kazakhstan’s Ilya Ilyin and China’s Sun Yang. In 2013, the 2nd edition of the games were held in China with 2,400 participants joining in 16 categories.
This 3rd edition of the AYG saw an exponential increase in competitors, with over 8,000 athletes competing from 45 nations across 26 sports categories. The event was held in Bahrain, taking AYG’s legacy to the next level by creating a youth village where the participants stayed, trained, and held cultural exchanges.
Photos from the Olympics Council of Asia
The People’s Republic of China took the top spot with 147 medals (63 gold, 49 silver, 35 bronze), followed by Uzbekistan at second place with 81 medals (37 gold, 16 silver, 28 bronze), and Kazakhstan at third with 93 medals (24 gold, 29 silver, 40 bronze).
Southeast Asia secured a top 5 spot as Thailand took the 5th place with 48 medals (15 gold, 15 silver, 18 bronze) across 19 categories; followed by the Philippines at 12th place with 24 medals (7 gold, 7 silver, 10 bronze) in 10 categories; Indonesia at 15th place with 28 medals (4 gold, 6 silver, 18 bronze) in 14 categories; Singapore in 19th place with 7 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) in 3 categories; Vietnam in 22nd place with 19 medals (1 gold, 7 silver, 11 bronze) in 8 categories; Malaysia in 23rd place with 12 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 9 bronze); and Cambodia in 31st place with 4 medals (2 silver, 2 bronze) in 2 categories.
Congratulations to all athletes and winners!
The 4th edition of the Asian Youth Games is set for 2029 in Uzbekistan.