The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) which features winter events. The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested the idea of holding a winter version of the Asian Games in 1982. Their efforts were rewarded when they were finally given hosting rights for the first edition that was held in Sapporo in 1986, as the city had the infrastructure and expertise gained from hosting of the 1972 Winter Olympics.
 Official logo of the Games | |
| Abbreviation | AWG |
|---|---|
| First event | 1986 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan |
| Occur every | Four years |
| Last event | 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo-Obihiro, Japan |
| Next event | 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China |
| Purpose | Multi-sport event for nations on the Asian continent |
From having only seven member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia taking part in the first edition, the number of nations competing in the Winter Asiad has consistently grown. In the 2007 Asian Winter Games in Changchun, 27 out of the 45 members fielded a record number of competitors, while all 45 NOCs sent delegations for the first time ever in Winter Asian history.
Although games in Lebanon in 2009 were considered, they did not take place and were cancelled.[1] After the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, the next edition is scheduled to be held in Harbin in 2025.
List of Asian Winter Games edit
| Edition | Year | Host city | Host nation | Opened by | Start date | End date | Nations | Competitors | Sports | Events | Top-placed team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1986 | Sapporo |  Japan | Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah | 1 March | 8 March | 7 | 293 | 7 | 35 | Japan (JPN) | [2] |
| 2 | 1990 | Sapporo | Japan | Emperor Akihito | 9 March | 14 March | 9 | 310 | 6 | 33 | Japan (JPN) | [3] |
| 3 | 1996 | Harbin |  China | President Jiang Zemin | 4 February | 11 February | 17 | 453 | 8 | 43 |  China (CHN) | [4] |
| 4 | 1999 | Gangwon |  South Korea | President Kim Dae-jung | 30 January | 6 February | 14 | 798 | 7 | 43 | China (CHN) | [5] |
| 5 | 2003 | Aomori |  Japan | Crown Prince Naruhito | 1 February | 8 February | 17 | 641 | 11 | 51 |  Japan (JPN) | [6] |
| 6 | 2007 | Changchun | China | President Hu Jintao | 28 January | 4 February | 25 | 796 | 10 | 47 | China (CHN) | [7] |
| 7 | 2011 | Astana and Almaty |  Kazakhstan | President Nursultan Nazarbayev | 30 January | 6 February | 26 | 843 | 11 | 69 |  Kazakhstan (KAZ) | [8] |
| 8 | 2017 | Sapporo and Obihiro | Japan | Crown Prince Naruhito | 19 February | 26 February | 32 | 1,147 | 11 | 64 | Japan (JPN) | [9] |
| 9 | 2025 | Harbin | China | TBD | 7 February | 14 February | 11 | 64 | ||||
| 10 | 2029 | Trojena |  Saudi Arabia | TBD |
- At the 2017 Games, the Olympic Council of Asia invited athletes from Oceania. Two countries from the region (Australia and New Zealand) accepted the invitation and their athletes competed along with 30 NOCs from Asia.
Sports edit
|
Medal count edit
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan (JPN) | 138 | 144 | 115 | 397 |
| 2 | China (CHN) | 94 | 85 | 105 | 284 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 78 | 62 | 56 | 196 |
| 4 |  South Korea (KOR) | 74 | 83 | 92 | 249 |
| 5 |  North Korea (PRK) | 1 | 4 | 12 | 17 |
| 6 |  Uzbekistan (UZB) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 7 |  Lebanon (LBN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 |  Mongolia (MGL) | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 |  Iran (IRI) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 |  Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 387 | 383 | 393 | 1163 | |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The skiers of Lebanon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-06-04. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09.
- ^ "1st AWG Sapporo 1986". Olympic Council of Asia. Retrieved 22 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "2nd AWG Sapporo 1990". Olympic Council of Asia. Retrieved 22 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "3rd AWG Harbin 1996". Olympic Council of Asia. Retrieved 22 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "4th AWG Gangwon 1999". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ "5th AWG Aomori 2003". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 2011-12-08. Retrieved 1 February 2003.
- ^ "6th AWG Changchun 2007". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
- ^ "7th AWG Astana-Almaty 2011". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 2010-11-08. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ^ "8th AWG Sapporo 2017". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 2010-11-07. Retrieved 19 February 2017.