Incheon uses National Sports Festival to prep for 2014 Asian Games

The metropolitan city of Incheon hopes to use an upcoming national multisport competition to prepare for a larger international event it will host next year, said Deputy Mayor Jo Myoung-U on Oct. 2.

Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, will stage the 94th National Sports Festival from Oct. 18 to 24, bringing together 22,000 athletes and 8,000 officials in 44 medal sports and two demonstration events. The city will also hold the 2014 Asian Games next September, as the third Korean host of the quadrennial continental competition.

Jo said staging the national event will be an important opportunity for the city with the Asian Games less than a year away. "The most important task for us at the National Sports Festival is to prepare ourselves for the Asian Games," adding that the majority of some 500 staffers at the Asian Games organizing committee will work for the National Sports Festival to gain more firsthand experience in hosting a multisport competition.

The National Sports Festival in Incheon will take place across 65 venues. Stars from last year's London Olympics will compete for their home cities and provinces.