Incheon: With one of the hottest rivalries in swimming, South Korea's Park Tae-hwan and China's Sun Yang will be hogging the spotlight at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. But with nearly 10,000 athletes competing in 42 sports, the list of world champions and Olympic gold medalists is lengthy.
Here is a short rundown on just a few of the athletes to watch at Incheon:
PARK TAE-HWAN
A star in his native South Korea, Park will attempt a second straight sweep of the Asian Games 100-, 200- and 400-meter freestyle events. The 24-year-old Park, nicknamed "Marine Boy," launched his competitive swimming career at seven and attended his first Olympics at age 14, when he was disqualified after falling off the starting block in his 400-meter heat. He found success in the 400 at the Beijing Games in 2008, becoming the first South Korean man to win an Olympic medal in swimming. That success was followed by a slump in form, but Park battled back to take two silvers - including a dead-heat with Sun Yang in the 200 freestyle - at the 2012 London Olympics. He set the fastest time of the year in the 400 last month at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia. Most South Korean men are required to complete almost two years of military service, but Park's success in the pool won him a reprieve and he fulfilled the national service with just four weeks of basic training after the London Games. He has also come up with some novel ways of financing his career, using crowdsourcing to raise $60,000 last year to train in Australia.
SUN YANG
Sun is the other, considerably taller, half of the biggest rivalry in Asian swimming and has been doing a little bit of trash talking ahead of the 2014 Games. Speaking through the Chinese media, he reminded Park that he's come a long way since being outshone by his rival at the 2010 Asian Games by winning gold in the 400 and 1,500 at the London Olympics - and finishing equal with Park for silver in the 200 - then winning the 400, 800 and 1,500 at last year's world championships. Sun also holds the 1,500 world record. Ahead of Incheon, he filmed a series of television commercials for a Chinese sportswear company in which he takes good natured jabs at Park's celebrity, thanking the Korean in one scene for not having left swimming for pop music or acting and ending with: "Don't let me win too easily." At 22, Sun has already built up a reputation as something of a bad boy, having been suspended by the Chinese federation in December after being detained for 7 days for driving without a license, an oversight he put down to his hectic training schedule. He'd already been publicly criticized for missing training to spend time with his air hostess girlfriend and take part in commercial endorsements. Sun's parents were both professional athletes and that pedigree shows in his hulking, nearly 2-meter (6-foot-6) frame.
SAORI YOSHIDA
One of Japan's biggest sporting stars and most successful wrestlers in history, Yoshida claimed three consecutive Olympic golds and holds an unprecedented 12 consecutive world titles in her 55-kilogram freestyle class. At 31, she'll be bidding for her fourth straight gold medal at the Asian Games. Yoshida was Japan's flag-bearer at the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics in 2012 and is also known in Japan as the face of one of the country's biggest private security companies. Her late father was a Japanese national champion and encouraged her to take up the sport at age three. Having won virtually every major tournament since her 2002 debut, Yoshida recently hinted at an acting career following retirement - she made a cameo appearance in a Japanese television drama in May.
ABHINAV BINDRA
Abhinav Bindra is aiming to add Asian Games gold to his long list of Olympic, Commonwealth and world championship titles. Bindra became the only Indian competitor to win an individual Olympic gold medal with his victory in the 10-meter air rifle title at Beijing in 2008, making him an instant sporting hero in a country that reveres its cricket stars. His best Asian Games result was a silver medal in the team event at the last edition in Guangzhou, China. The competition at Incheon comes as the 31-year-old begins to wind down his long career, having already announced that the recently completed Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - where he won a gold medal - would be his last. Bindra made his Olympic debut in Sydney 2000 at the age of 17, four years after taking up the sport. Born into a wealthy family in Chandigarh, he benefited from having a home shooting range and the ability to independently finance his training and competition schedule.
LIN DAN
Lin burst onto the men's badminton scene with the first of his five world titles in 2006, going on to win gold at the last two Olympics and the singles title at the last Asian Games in his native China four years ago. Lin, married to fellow badminton Olympian Xie Xingfang, has at times been known as much for his fiery temper as his devastating overhead smashes, particularly in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he was accused by the local media of disrespecting his own coach and publicly clashed with South Korea's Chinese-born coach during a match. In the latter case, China's federation backed him up after her refused to apologize for shouting and raising his racket in a threatening manner. As a member of the People's Liberation Army team, Lin holds the title of lieutenant colonel in China's military, although he's rarely seen in uniform. One of China's best known athletes, the 30-year-old Lin is also something of a style icon due to his collection of tattoos and a variety of spikey haircuts.
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