On April 30, 2024 the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic puts into circulation a series of 2023 Kyrgyz Express Post postage stamps: "XIX Asian Games".
The XIX Asian Games were held from September 23 to October 8, 2023 in Hangzhou and five other cities in China. Initially, the Games were scheduled to be played in 2022, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of major tournaments in recent years, the competition dates were moved to 2023.
The Asian Games (Asiad) are the largest multi-sport competitions among athletes of the Asian continent, held every four years under the auspices and guidance of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
At the Hangzhou Games, more than 15,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions competed for 481 sets of medals in 40 sports (61 disciplines).
The program of the passed Asian Games included both traditional Olympic sports and non-Olympic ones, including those characteristic of the Asian region (such as kuresh - belt wrestling, the martial art pencak silat, kabaddi, Malayan volleyball sepak takraw, dragon boat racing and others). A historic event was the inclusion of cybersport in the official program of the Hangzhou Asiad. By the way, the mascots of the games are three robots: Chenchen, Congcong and Lianlian.
We are pleased to note the great success of Kyrgyz athletes at the XIX Asian Games in Hangzhou. Representatives of Kyrgyzstan won 15 medals: 4 gold, 2 silver and 9 bronze.
The KEP stamps feature two sports: cybersport and fencing. The coupons of the minisheets and the First Day Cover depict the impressive building of the "Big Lotus" Olympic Sports Center in Hangzhou. This stadium can accommodate 80,000 people.
This stamp issue was designed by Vitaliu Pogolșa, with whom KEP has been fruitfully collaborating for a long time. Unfortunately, this wonderful artist passed away prematurely. The stamps dedicated to the Hangzhou Asian Games became his last design work in philately.
For this series, KEP also issues two postcards, which are used to realize two maximum cards.
