 | |
| Host city | Manila, Philippines |
|---|---|
| Motto | Ever Onward |
| Nations | 18 |
| Athletes | 970 |
| Events | 77 in 8 sports |
| Opening | May 1, 1954 |
| Closing | May 9, 1954 |
| Opened by | Ramon Magsaysay President of the Philippines |
| Athlete's Oath | Martin Gison |
| Judge's Oath | Antonio Delas Alas [1] |
| Torch lighter | Enriquito Beech[2] |
| Main venue | Rizal Memorial Stadium |
The 1954 Asian Games (Filipino: Palarong Asyano 1954), officially known as the Second Asian Games – Manila 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Manila Times May 9, 1954
- ^ Manila Times May 10, 1954