[Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games] Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games concludes, South Korea records 3rd place overall with 150 medals including 39 gold

MBC [Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games] Goodbye Aichi-Nagoya! The 16-day battle comes to an end! The long journey concludes with the broadcast by MBC announcers Kim Min-ho and Park So-young.

- MBC, the prestigious house of sports broadcasting, succeeds once again! From viewership ratings to topicality, they finished by showing an 'unreachable' class! - South Korea records 3rd place overall with 39 gold, 43 silver, and 68 bronze medals! Moments in sports history newly born through the fighting spirit and passion of the Taeguk Warriors! - South Korean sports climbing gold medalist Seo Chae-hyun appears as the flag bearer for the closing ceremony! The great Asian sports festival comes to a close under the theme of 'One Asia'!

The 20th Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games have drawn to a grand conclusion, leaving behind 16 days of intense heat. MBC successfully completed all schedules for this competition by broadcasting the closing ceremony held on the 4th (Sun) with the vivid presentation of announcers Kim Min-ho and Park So-young.

The closing ceremony, held under the concept of 'One Asia', opened with a spectacular opening performance themed 'Hearts beating as one with the athletes'. MBC announcer Kim Min-ho expressed admiration, saying, "It is a wonderful stage where the lights and people become one," followed by the entrance of the athlete delegations mingling without distinction of nation or region, accompanied by the comment, "The true protagonists of today are entering." As South Korea's sports climbing athlete Seo Chae-hyun appeared as the flag bearer, announcer Park So-young reported on the festival scene, saying, "The athletes who competed fiercely are entering as one. It feels like the stadium is being vibrantly colored by the national flags of each country."

In this competition, South Korea achieved 3rd place overall, winning a total of 150 medals, including 39 gold, 43 silver, and 68 bronze. They harvested 20 medals in swimming, the most ever in a single competition, and in men's and women's basketball, they wore joint gold medals for the first time in 12 years. Additionally, they created scenes that will remain in South Korean sports history, such as badminton's An Se-young's first-ever consecutive women's singles titles and winning 4 gold medals, the most ever in the history of the fencing competition. Announcer Kim Min-ho looked back on the athletes' footsteps, saying, "In this competition, 53 world records, 76 Asian records, and 166 competition records poured out. It was a competition that raised the standards of world sports beyond Asia," and announcer Park So-young also remarked, "It was a series of moments like a drama. It is the emotion created by the efforts of many who worked for a long time for the competition during the period of a little over two weeks."

Following the sequence of handing over the competition flag to the next host city, Doha, Qatar, the highlight of the closing ceremony was the finale performance themed 'One Asia-One Heart'. Park So-young left a deep impression with the comment, "This is the moment when the history of Asian sports continues to the next stage, Doha. The festival is not an end but is waiting for a new beginning." Announcer Kim Min-ho also reflected on the emotion shared with the Taeguk Warriors, saying, "The moments we cried and laughed together for 16 days pass by."

MBC, which delivered every moment of the Taeguk Warriors' challenges and battles for 16 days, once again proved its position as a 'prestigious house of sports broadcasting' by continuing a streak of ranking 1st in viewership for major match broadcasts. The smooth presentation and expertise-filled commentary of the MBC broadcasting team, who deeply empathized with the athletes' passion and breathed with the viewers, received hot praise throughout the competition.

Translated from the Korean original with AI. The Korean article was itself written with AI assistance. Read the original (Korean)