Athletes Held Up by Shuttle System Failure Ahead of Aichi-Nagoya Games

Hours before the opening of the Asian Games, a malfunction in the shuttle scheduling software at Chubu Centrair International Airport left dozens of athletes and officials stranded near the Aichi Sky Expo. The glitch prevented the airport’s system from pulling up the registration data of many delegations, meaning the pre‑assigned buses left without them.

Representatives from the Chinese delegation said that of the 21 members of their gymnastics team, only two were recorded, forcing the rest to wait for alternative transport. Some athletes used the downtime to stretch and perform warm‑up routines on improvised mats.

Volunteers on site blamed the delay on poor coordination between the airport authority and the games’ logistics team. Without a definitive shuttle timetable, teams were forced to either wait indefinitely or arrange private rides at their own expense.

The Chinese badminton athletes attempted to catch city buses but could not secure enough tickets. The Chinese embassy in Nagoya later organized chartered vans via local contacts, enabling the team to depart the expo by 4:30 p.m.

Other Chinese groups – table tennis, wushu and rowing – boarded official shuttles around 5 p.m., while the gymnastics squad finally left at 6 p.m., nearly six hours after reaching the airport. The Sri Lankan team reported a total travel and waiting period of roughly 24 hours.

Only water was provided at the venue throughout the day; there were no food services, which added to the athletes’ frustration. A tired competitor noted that the logistical setbacks outside the competition arenas felt more demanding than the events themselves, prompting scrutiny of the host nation’s operational capabilities.