Asian Winter Games facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Asian Winter Games

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
Purpose	Multi-sport event for nations on the Asian continent

The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is a big international sports event. It happens every four years. Athletes from countries in Asia compete in many different winter sports. It's like a mini Winter Olympic Games just for Asia!

The idea for these games came from the Japanese Olympic Committee in 1982. They wanted a winter version of the Asian Games. Their hard work paid off. The first Asian Winter Games took place in Sapporo, Japan, in 1986. Sapporo was a great choice because it had already hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics. This meant it had all the right places and experience.

Only seven countries took part in the first games. But over time, more and more countries joined in. In the 2007 Asian Winter Games in Changchun, 27 out of 45 member countries sent athletes. This was a record number of competitors. In fact, for the first time ever, all 45 countries that are part of the Olympic Council of Asia sent teams to the Winter Asian Games.

There was a plan for games in Lebanon in 2009, but they didn't happen. After the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, the next games will be in Harbin, China, in 2025.

Host Cities of the Asian Winter Games

The Asian Winter Games have been held in many different cities across Asia. These cities provide the ice and snow venues needed for the winter sports.

Here is a list of all the Asian Winter Games that have taken place or are planned:

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	1990	Sapporo	Japan	Emperor Akihito	9 March	14 March	9	310	6	33	Japan (JPN)
3	1996	Harbin	China	President Jiang Zemin	4 February	11 February	17	453	8	43	China (CHN)
4	1999	Gangwon	South Korea	President Kim Dae-jung	30 January	6 February	14	798	7	43	China (CHN)
5	2003	Aomori	Japan	Crown Prince Naruhito	1 February	8 February	17	641	11	51	Japan (JPN)
6	2007	Changchun	China	President Hu Jintao	28 January	4 February	25	796	10	47	China (CHN)
7	2011	Astana and Almaty	Kazakhstan	President Nursultan Nazarbayev	30 January	6 February	26	843	11	69	Kazakhstan (KAZ)
8	2017	Sapporo and Obihiro	Japan	Crown Prince Naruhito	19 February	26 February	32	1,147	11	64	Japan (JPN)
9	2025	Harbin	China	TBD	7 February	14 February			11	64
10	2029	Trojena	Saudi Arabia	TBD

At the 2017 Games, something new happened. The Olympic Council of Asia invited athletes from Oceania to join. Two countries from that region, Australia and New Zealand, accepted. Their athletes competed alongside the 30 countries from Asia.

Sports at the Asian Winter Games

Many exciting winter sports are part of the Asian Winter Games.

Here are some of the sports you can see at the games:

Medal Count

Countries compete to win the most medals. Medals are given for gold (1st place), silver (2nd place), and bronze (3rd place).

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	1,163

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Asiáticos de Invierno para niños

• Winter Olympic Games