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	2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China
Purpose	Multi-sport event for nations on the Asian continent

The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is a big sports event. It happens every four years. Athletes from countries in Asia compete in winter sports. It's like the Olympic Games, but just for Asian countries.

The idea for these games came from Japan in 1982. Sapporo, Japan, hosted the very first games in 1986. Sapporo was a good choice because it had already hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics. This meant it had all the right buildings and experience.

At first, only seven countries took part. But the games quickly grew! In 2007, 27 out of 45 countries sent athletes. For the first time ever, all 45 countries that are part of the Olympic Council of Asia sent people to the games. The next games are planned for Neom, Saudi Arabia, in 2029.

Where the Games Have Been Held

The Asian Winter Games have been held in many different cities across Asia. You can see them on the map below. Each city has welcomed athletes from all over the continent.

Past and Future Games

Here is a list of all the Asian Winter Games that have happened and the ones coming up. You can see how many countries and athletes have joined over the years.

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
2	1990	Sapporo	Japan	Emperor Akihito	9 March	14 March	9	310	6	33	Japan
3	1996	Harbin	China	President Jiang Zemin	4 February	11 February	17	453	8	43	China
4	1999	Gangwon	South Korea	President Kim Dae-jung	30 January	6 February	14	798	7	43	China
5	2003	Aomori	Japan	Crown Prince Naruhito	1 February	8 February	17	641	11	51	Japan
6	2007	Changchun	China	President Hu Jintao	28 January	4 February	25	796	10	47	China
7	2011	Astana and Almaty	Kazakhstan	President Nursultan Nazarbayev	30 January	6 February	26	843	11	69	Kazakhstan
8	2017	Sapporo and Obihiro	Japan	Crown Prince Naruhito	19 February	26 February	32	1,147	11	64	Japan
9	2025	Harbin	China	President Xi Jinping	7 February	14 February	34	1,222	11	64	China
10	2029	Neom	Saudi Arabia	TBD

At the 2017 Games, athletes from Australia and New Zealand were invited. These two countries from Oceania joined 30 Asian countries in the competition.

Sports Played at the Games

Many exciting winter sports are part of the Asian Winter Games. Some sports have been played since the very first games. Others have been added more recently.

Medal Winners

As of the 2025 games, 34 different countries have taken part. Only a few countries have won gold medals at every Asian Winter Games. These are China, Japan, and South Korea. Japan, China, and Kazakhstan are the only three countries that have finished first in the medal count.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan	148	156	130	434
2	China	126	112	131	369
3	South Korea	90	98	106	294
4	Kazakhstan	82	71	62	215
5	Uzbekistan	2	2	4	8
6	North Korea	1	5	12	18
7	Lebanon	1	1	0	2
8	Philippines	1	0	0	1
9	Mongolia	0	1	6	7
10	Iran	0	1	2	3
11	Chinese Taipei	0	0	1	1
	Kyrgyzstan	0	0	1	1
	Thailand	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		451	447	456	1,354

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Asiáticos de Invierno para niños

• Winter Olympic Games