XV Asiad: Teams face heat, high security

DOHA, Qatar ― Doha is a beautiful city by night, with the skyscrapers lighting up the the otherwise tiny capital city of Qatar. But come daylight, it turns into a different town. By day, Doha, host of the 2006 Asian Games that begin this Friday, is one large construction site. The 15th edition of the Asian Games runs Dec. 1-15. The first Asian Games in 1951 were held in New Delhi, India.

Although the games are just days away, the main Khalifa Sports Stadium was still being tweaked last week. In the 100-degree (Fahrenheit) heat, workers pave roads surrounding the stadium. With the deadline closing in, it appears that workers are laid back, and whether the facility will be 100 percent ready by the opening ceremony seems questionable at this pace. With cranes and steel frames scattered around the city, Doha is growing into a different place, as it prepares to host its first major sporting event. Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a tiny peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. But don't let its size fool you. Due to its oil and natural gas production and wealth, Qatar's gross domestic product per capita is among the highest in the world. The confidence from the solid economy has been channeled into sports. Hamad bin Khalifa, Emir of Qatar and the chairman of Qatar National Olympic Committee, will see to that. The country is already home to golf's Caltex Masters, a European Tour event, and also to a motorcycle grand prix event. Posters featuring the official slogan “The Games of Your Life” are all over the city, but for the citizens of Qatar, this Asian Games may be just an appetizer. That's because Qatar is bidding to host the 2016 Olympic Games. For a country with less than 900,000 people, that might sound like a pipe dream. But Qatar has spent more than $110 billion on Asian Games facilities and infrastructure. With the wealth of the oil money, funding doesn't appear to be a problem. Instead, security might be. The officials of the Korean delegation, including 832 athletes in 37 events, were so concerned that during a gathering last Wednesday, they gave the athletes safety lessons. Among the pointers was that they should not go near the Al Jazeera television station that could be a target for terrorists in the Middle East. This is the first Asian Games in the Middle East since Tehran hosted the 1974 Asiad, and also the longest travel distance for Korean Asian Game athletes since then. Not only is there a six-hour time difference, but there also are weather and cultural factors. At the last Asian Games in the Korean port city of Busan in 2002, Korea grabbed 96 gold medals, and 260 medals overall, to finish ahead of perennial rival Japan by 70 medals. To achieve its goal of retaining the No. 2 position ― beating powerhouse China is all but impossible ― Korea must deal with all the variables. Yoon Sang-hwa, the Korean men taekwondo team's coach, said he has skipped morning training for his fighters, but instead scheduled practices in afternoon and night hours, so that “When we get to Doha, we will be more quickly acclimated to the time difference. Since finals will be in the afternoon in Doha time, we've been training hard at night” The men's soccer team, seeking its first Asian Game gold in 20 years, is already in the time zone: it played Iran on Nov. 15 in the preliminary Asian Cup match, and skipped over to Dubai to play the United Arab Emirates last Thursday. The climate might also be a concern. Although typical December weather in Doha resembles that of Korea in early fall, the range between the day's high and low temperatures is much larger. Often, the temperature at night is up to 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than during the day. “If the athletes come down with flu [due to the temperature gap at night], all their efforts will be for naught,” said women's fencing coach Kim Young-ho. “We've packed winter parkas for this trip.” On a more positive note, Korea has some good experience in Doha that it may be able to draw on ― “The Miracle in Doha.” In 1993, the Korean men's national soccer team flew to Doha to battle for the right to represent Asia in the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Six teams (South and North Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq) were bidding for two regional spots. After beating Iran 3-0, South Korea drew in its next two matches, and lost 1-0 to Japan. Trailing Japan and Saudi Arabia by a point with a game to play, South Korea's only hope was to beat North Korea by more than two goals and hope that Japan or the Saudis lost or tied their last games. The South beat North Korea 3-0, but Saudi Arabia beat Iran 4-3. With Japan leading Iraq 2-1 in the waning moments, South Korea's dream of making its third consecutive World Cup was on the verge of dying. But Iraq scored seconds before the whistle to even things up. South Korea was tied with Japan at six points, but Korea advanced to the World Cup on the goal differential tiebreaker. To this day, that turn of events is called “The Miracle in Doha.” Hong Myeong-bo, a key player on the 1993 South Korean soccer team, is an assistant coach on the 2006 national team. by Sung Ho-jun,Yoo Jee-ho