# 1978 Asian Games

The 8th Asian Games (Thai: กีฬาเอเชียนเกมส์ครั้งที่ 8), also known as Bangkok 1978 (Thai: กรุงเทพมหานคร 1978), were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was decided to host the 8th Games. But Islamabad also dropped its plan to host the Asian Games due to conflicts with Bangladesh and India. The Imperial State of Iran withdrew because of the Iranian revolution.
Thailand offered to help and the Asiad therefore was held in Bangkok. On the political front, Israel was expelled from the Asian Games. A total number of 3,842 athletes, coming from 25 countries, competed in these Asian Games. Debuting sports were archery and bowling.

## Sports

* Archery (4) (details)
* Athletics (39) (details)
* Badminton (7) (details)
* Basketball (2) (details)
* Bowling (10) (details)
* Boxing (11) (details)
* Cycling (6) (details)
* Diving (4) (details)
* Fencing (8) (details)
* Field hockey (1) (details)
* Football (1) (details)
* Gymnastics (14) (details)
* Sailing (4) (details)
* Shooting (22) (details)
* Swimming (29) (details)
* Table tennis (7) (details)
* Tennis (7) (details)
* Volleyball (2) (details)
* Water polo (1) (details)
* Weightlifting (10) (details)
* Wrestling (10) (details)

## Participating nations

25 out of 32 Olympic Council of Asia members participated in these games. Iran sent only one official and did not participate in the games due to the political situation in Iran at the time.
* Bahrain (45)
* Bangladesh (39)
* Burma (42)
* China (408)
* Hong Kong (112)
* India (283)
* Indonesia (104)
* Iraq (17)
* Japan (460)
* Kuwait (27)
* Lebanon (3)
* Malaysia (107)
* Mongolia (20)
* Nepal (13)
* North Korea (111)
* Pakistan (82)
* Philippines (316)
* Qatar (23)
* Saudi Arabia (103)
* Singapore (76)
* South Korea (253)
* Sri Lanka (18)
* Syria (40)
* Thailand (948)
* United Arab Emirates (192)

### Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees (by highest to lowest)

| IOC Letter Code | Country | Athletes |
| THA | Thailand | 948 |
| JPN | Japan | 460 |
| CHN | China | 408 |
| PHI | Philippines | 316 |
| IND | India | 283 |
| KOR | South Korea | 253 |
| UAE | United Arab Emirates | 192 |
| HKG | Hong Kong | 112 |
| PRK | North Korea | 111 |
| MAL | Malaysia | 107 |
| INA | Indonesia | 104 |
| KSA | Saudi Arabia | 103 |
| PAK | Pakistan | 82 |
| SIN | Singapore | 76 |
| BRN | Bahrain | 45 |
| BIR | Burma | 42 |
| SYR | Syria | 40 |
| BAN | Bangladesh | 39 |
| KUW | Kuwait | 27 |
| QAT | Qatar | 23 |
| MGL | Mongolia | 20 |
| SRI | Sri Lanka | 18 |
| IRQ | Iraq | 17 |
| NEP | Nepal | 13 |
| LIB | Lebanon | 3 |

## Medal table

The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Thailand, is highlighted.
* Host nation (Thailand)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Japan (JPN) | 70 | 59 | 49 | 178 |
| 2 | China (CHN) | 51 | 54 | 46 | 151 |
| 3 | South Korea (KOR) | 18 | 20 | 31 | 69 |
| 4 | North Korea (PRK) | 15 | 13 | 15 | 43 |
| 5 | Thailand (THA)* | 11 | 12 | 19 | 42 |
| 6 | India (IND) | 11 | 11 | 6 | 28 |
| 7 | Indonesia (INA) | 8 | 7 | 18 | 33 |
| 8 | Pakistan (PAK) | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 |
| 9 | Philippines (PHI) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 10 | Iraq (IRQ) | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 11–19 | Remaining | 7 | 11 | 21 | 39 |
| Totals (19 entries) | Totals (19 entries) | 201 | 199 | 226 | 626 |