Over the 16-day period between September and October, China hosted its third Asian Games in history. The celebration filled the streets of Hangzhou, a city populated by 10 million people and neighboring city of Shanghai. While the Asian Games continue to be hosted in rotation across a variety of Asian nations, they have been dubbed the “China Games” for the country’s four-decade dominance in the multi-sport event.

The narrative was not much different, as China amassed 201 gold medals and 383 overall. The runner ups Japan(52 gold) and Korea(42) combined for less than half of the number of gold medals secured by the host nation. Most other nations recorded five or fewer gold medals. While the Asian Games 2022 featured all traditional Olympic sports, China pushed to expand the boundaries of what would traditionally be considered an Olympic game.

One recent trending story was the addition of eSports into the Olympic mix. After gaining traction among worldwide viewers in competitive gaming such as League of Legends, Asian countries gathered veteran professional gamers to battle in LoL for the gold medal. South Korea’s gamer team later beat Thailand in LoL, and by securing a gold medal in eSports, the Korean men also secured military exemption, which has long been a contentious, controversial issue.

The addition of non-traditional sports is gaining traction in other worldwide events. For example, the U.S. has now added flag football as an official Olympic sport for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and have already started recruiting NFL stars to represent the country. Make sure to catch the updates on the Paralympics 2023 set to begin soon.