The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama. During the opening ceremony, the championship was declared opened by President of South Korea Kim Dae-jung.
The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002, were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due schedule impediments the football tournament started two days before the opening ceremonies.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 30 July 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked Randhir Singh, who was previously the acting president, to continue as the Acting President of the OCA, while the IOC investigated the OCA presidential election of 2023. On 13 October 2023, the IOC ethics committee asked the OCA to annul its 2023 elections due to Talal’s candidacy not fulfilling the eligibility conditions defined by the OCA Constitution and election interference by his brother Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
The 2002 Asian Games was a multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Busan was the second South Korean city to host the Games, after Seoul in 1986. A total of 6,572 athletes—4,605 men and 1,967 women—from 44 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 38 sports divided into 419 events. The number of competing athletes was higher than the 1998 Asian Games, in which 6,544 athletes from 41 NOCs participated. It was the first time in the history of the Asian Games that all 44 member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) participated in the Games. Afghanistan returned after the fall of the Taliban government in the midst of ongoing war; East Timor, newest member of the OCA made its debut; and North Korea competed for the first time in an international sporting event hosted by South Korea. Both nations marched together at the opening ceremony with a Korean Unification Flag depicting the Korean Peninsula as United Korea.
Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (Korean: 부산전시컨벤션센터), commonly known as BEXCO (벡스코), is a convention and exhibition center located in Centum City, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It features over 46,500 m2 of exhibition space and 53 meeting rooms. In June 2012, BEXCO completed its expansion to add a 4,002-seat auditorium and a new exhibition center.
Afghanistan participated in the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14, 2002. This marked Afghanistan's return to international sporting events after the fall of the Taliban regime. The Afghan delegation consisted of 12 officials and 44 competitors participating in seven different sports. The Afghanistan national football team played its first international match since the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification phase. An English teacher from Kabul, Roia Zamani, won a bronze medal in the 72 kg middleweight class of taekwondo without winning a single match. Zamani was the only medalist for the Afghan side and the first Afghan medalist in 20 years. None of the remaining athletes advanced past the qualifying stages.
East Timor competed in the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14, 2002. East Timor was the newest Asian country—it declared its independence four months before the Games on May 20, 2002—and participated in the Asian Games for the first time after the independence from Indonesia. Indonesia invaded the nation on December 7, 1975, and left in October 19, 1999 after the UN-supervised referendum.
Sung Min is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He represented South Korea in three editions of the Olympic Games, and held multiple national championship titles and swimming records in the relay freestyle and backstroke events. Sung had also won a total of five bronze medals, including one from the 50 m backstroke, at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance at the Olympics. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest ever delegation to the Games in Olympic history since 1984. A total of 205 athletes, 103 men and 101 women, competed in 24 sports.
Han Kyu-chul is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He is a two-time Olympian, and an eight-time bronze medalist at the Asian Games.
Harbeth Fu Wing is a Hong Kong former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He represented Hong Kong, China at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and later became a top 16 finalist at the Asian Games.
Ku Min-jung is a retired South Korean volleyball player. She represented South Korea in two editions of the Olympic Games, and also often played as an outside hitter and attacker. Ku was also a member of the South Korea women's national volleyball team who attained a great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, capturing two silver medals each at the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship and at the Asian Games.
The women's volleyball tournament at the 2002 Asian Games was held from Wednesday October 2 to Saturday October 12, 2002 in Busan, South Korea. The women's volleyball event was contested for the 11th time at the Asian Games.
The Men's Beach volleyball Tournament at the 2002 Asian Games was held from September 29 to October 4, 2002 in Busan, South Korea.
The Iran Men's National Volleyball Team is the official national men's volleyball team of Iran. It is governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation (I.R.I.V.F.) and takes part in international volleyball competitions.
Iran competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
China has qualified to send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Sports China competed in include blind football, archery, boccia, cycling, goalball, judo, paracanoeing, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
The 2002 FESPIC Games, officially known as the 8th FESPIC Games, was an Asia-Pacific disabled multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from 26 October to 1 November 2002, 12 days after the 2002 Asian Games. It was one of the two FESPIC Games to have held at the same host city as the Asian Games, the other being the 1999 FESPIC Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ahsanollah Shirkavand is an Iranian volleyball libero. After playing at the Asian Youth Games, he was invited to the Iran Men's National Volleyball Team and played for it from 1998 to 2000 who finished fourth at the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship. Shirkavand continued playing for the National Team under the coaching of Julio Velasco until 2013, when he was forced to leave national games due to injury.
Park Chan-dae is a South Korean retired competitive wushu taolu athlete who is currently the coach of the Korean Wushu Team. During the 1990s, he became one the most successful wushu athletes outside of China. He was a six-time world champion and has achieved victories at the Asian Games and the East Asian Games.
