Room with a view: At 2026 Asian Games, athletes to stay at ‘Floating Village' on board luxury cruise liner

Indian Express

01-05-2025

When thousands of athletes return to their rooms after intense, high-pressure matches during next year's Asian Games, they will be greeted by a sight that will instantly heal them: an unobstructed view of the ocean.
To reduce the massive costs incurred by constructing a dedicated Athletes' Village, the organisers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad, to be held from September 19 to October 4, have come up with a novel plan — to create a floating village on a cruise ship.
In a departure from tradition, the 2026 Asian Games organisers have said that instead of the usual brick-and-mortar buildings that make the Athletes' Village, approximately 4,600 athletes will be housed in a luxury cruise liner that will be docked at Japan's shipping hub Nagoya.
The floating Games Village will be based at the Kinjo Pier in Nagoya Port and will include a balcony with an ocean view, giving the athletes a 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience, the organisers said.
The plans were revealed during the first technical delegates meeting in Nagoya on Wednesday. Organisers said that athletes from 20 sports whose competition venues are close to Nagoya Port will be accommodated in the liner.
Asian Games Villas, described as temporary container homes, will be constructed for 2,400 participants at a nearby Pier. Together, they will form the two elements of the Asian Games Athletes' Plaza, which will be connected by a 15-minute shuttle bus ride over 6.5km, according to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The rest of the athletes and officials will be put up in hotel rooms.
The OCA added that the athletes from following 20 sports will be accommodated on the cruise liner: archery, basketball 3×3, canoe/kayak (sprint), cycling – mountain bike, cycling – BMX Racing, football (men), gymnastics, handball, judo, kabaddi, kurash, mixed martial arts, rowing, rugby, sepaktakraw, sport climbing, squash, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organisers decided against constructing a brand-new Athletes Village to cut costs. Earlier, the Nagoya racecourse was one of the sites being considered for the normal Village.
However, according to a 2023 Asahi Shimbun report, the costs of the Games rose by more than 60 percent to approximately $927 million.
Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, the technical delegate for BMX Racing, Max Mager, called the idea 'unique'. 'This has never been done before in the Asian Games – to have a cruise ship docked in the port as the Asian Games Village,' he was quoted as saying by the OCA.
However, the Singapore national added a tinge of caution, saying the athletes would have 'no problem on the liner' if 'the ship offered the usual village services such as catering, a gymnasium and storage for equipment.'
The Asian Games are bigger in participation numbers compared to the Olympics. At the previous edition in Hangzhou, China, close to 12,000 athletes from 45 countries took part.
India sent a contingent of 661 athletes, who won a record 106 medals including 28 gold. It was the first time India crossed the 100-medal mark at the Asian Games.
Earlier this week, the 2026 Games organisers added T20 cricket to the programme after the initial uncertainty over its place. The venue, however, is yet to be finalised.