Asian Winter Games


The Asian Winter Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia 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.
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 ultimately did not take place.

List of Asian Winter Games

EditionYearHost NationOpened byNationsCompetitorsSportsEventsTop Placed Team
I1986Sapporo1 March8 March7293435
II1990SapporoEmperor Akihito9 March14 March9310433
III1996HarbinPresident Jiang Zemin17453443
IV1999GangwonPresident Kim Dae-jung14798443
V2003AomoriCrown Prince Naruhito17641551
VI2007ChangchunPresident Hu Jintao25796547
VII2011President Nursultan Nazarbayev26843569
VIII2017SapporoCrown Prince Naruhito321,147564



Medal count

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