Asian IOC Country Codes Trivia Quiz

First appearing in the Summer Olympics in 1952, Indonesia has created a consistent run of success at the games, winning dozens of medals, but most of them in a few key sports, notably badminton in which they've won all three medals repeatedly. Indonesia has also seen positive showings in weightlifting with one of their athletes, Eko Yuli Irawan, having won medals at four consecutive Olympics (starting with Beijing in 2008).

A nation that's joined into the Summer Games since the 1950s, Malaysia also had their first-ever showing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea (in 2018), sending competitors in alpine skiing and figure skating. The nation's biggest successes, however, have been in badminton, not unlike its neighbours in Indonesia. Malaysia's original acronym, upon its debut in 1956, was MAL.

When they gained independence in 1963 it was changed to suit.

Debuting at the Munich Games in 1972, the nation of Saudi Arabia has hit a number of milestones in its history of Olympic involvement. After receiving their first medals at the Sydney Games in 2000 (in Athletics and Equestrian), Saudi Arabia shifted their policies to allow female competitors at the Olympics (in time for London 2012), avoiding being barred from subsequent events.

They also visited the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2022 when they sent alpine skier Fayik Abdi to participate in the slalom in Beijing.

The Maldives didn't form an Olympic Committee for itself until the mid-1980s and, as such, their Olympic history is a bit shorter than most other nations. This said, they made their first appearance in the games in Seoul sending athletes in running events (track, marathon, etc.). Because of their location in the Indian Ocean, this island nation isn't generally well-equipped for Winter Olympics training.

Iran is a nation with a notable Olympic history. Though they appeared reliably in the Summer Olympics starting in 1948 (save for a brief break due to political turmoil), Iran had a competitor in the 1900 Paris Olympics, specifically a fencer who placed 19th. Since then, Iran has win dozens of each medal, excelling in wrestling and weightlifting events and taking their first medal in the latter in 1948. Hadi Saei, one of their most celebrated athletes, actually won all his medals in taekwondo.

Korea's history with the Olympic Games is a reflection of their geopolitical complexity. While, combined, North and South Korea have used the code COR (the French name, Corée), North Korea uses PRK as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea while South Korea uses KOR. Historically, COR was used only a handful of times, one of these being in 2018 when the North and South Korean women's hockey teams amalgamated at the Pyeongchang games. They placed eighth.

North Korea, otherwise, has been modestly successful in both the Summer and Winter Games, managing to win medals on their first outings (in Innsbruck in 1964 for Winter and Munich in 1972 for Summer).

The small, Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain is unique in that their comparatively short Olympic history (starting in 1984 with the Los Angeles Summer Olympics) has been complicated by athletes' home countries and disqualifications. Though Bahrain's been known to send long-distance runners to the games, most of Bahrain's qualifying athletes are ones who've come from other African nations, taking their citizenship in Bahrain over time.

As such, their earlier medals have been won by runners originally from Ethiopia and Kenya.

India, like Iran, has the notable distinction of having been present for the 1900 Paris Olympics before being a formal staple at the Summer Games starting in 1920 (in Antwerp). The catch is that their sole athlete in Paris, Norman Pritchard, won the gold in both the 200m race and the 200m hurdles, making him the first Asian medallist at any Olympic Games.

Despite India being known as British India during those early years (until independence in 1947), India always used the IOC code IND.

There's a lot to say about China as an Olympic nation as they've risen, since their debut in the games as the Republic of China (ROC) in 1932, as one of the top medal-earning countries in the world. Technically, their first year of the games with the code CHN was in Helsinki in 1952 (before a hiatus from the games and withdrawal from the IOC until 1980, their first Winter Games).

The City of Beijing also hosted the games-- a Summer Olympiad in 2008 and a Winter one in 2022. In their home nation in 2008, they took 100 of the medals awarded (of 958), nearly half of which were gold.

Originally part of the Soviet Union until the dissolution of the USSR, Turkmenistan competed in its first games as an independent nation in 1996 (in Atlanta). Until 2020, Turkmenistan had never won an Olympic medal, but the first (a silver medal) was claimed in women's weightlifting when Polina Guryeva won the event in Tokyo.