The 2017 Asian Winter Games (), also known as Sapporo 2017 (), were a continental winter multi sport events and the 8th edition of the

Asian Winter Games The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) featuring winter events. The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested creating a winter version of the ...

. They were held from February 19 to 26 2017 in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

and Obihiro in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. These Games were originally scheduled for 2015, however, in the

Olympic Council of Asia The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a sports governing body, governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 3 ...

's general assembly in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 3 July 2009, the committee decided to move the Games to one year before the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

moving forward. The games began on 19 February with the opening ceremony (the curling and hockey events begin the day before) and ended with the closing ceremony on 26 February.

and Obihiro were named as the host cities on January 31, 2011, as the sole bidding cities. The hosting contract was signed by

Tsunekazu Takeda is a Japanese businessman, retired Olympic equestrian and the former President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, stepping down on 21 March 2019 amidst a corruption investigation. He also resigned as a member of the International Olympic Committ ...

, the president of the

Japanese Olympic Committee The is the National Olympic Committee in Japan for the Olympic Games movement, based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams and raises funds to send Japanese competitors to Olympic events organised by the Internati ...

. It was the third time that Sapporo hosted the event and fourth time in Japan. Previously the city held the two first editions of the Games in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. Before hosting the first

, the city was also the host of the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

and the 1991 Winter Universiade.

Bid

On 31 January 2011,

was awarded the right to host the Games. The decision was announced at the OCA's general assembly during the

2011 Asian Winter Games The 2011 Asian Winter Games (; ), also known as Astana-Almaty 2011 (), were a continental winter multi-sport event held from January 30 to February 6, 2011 in Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was the first time that Kazakhstan hosted such a larg ...

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The bid was announced by Mayor Fumio Ueda on 15 January 2011, with no other bidding city. The total cost is expected to be ¥3.5 billion.

Development and preparation

Venues

131012 Hotel Nikko Northland Obihiro Hokkaido Japan02s3

;Athletes village Athletes and officials staying at the games stayed at hotels in Sapporo and Obihiro (for speed skating). There was no traditional dedicated village that was built for the games. ;Main Media Center The Main Media Center (MMC) housed both the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) and the Main Press Center (MPC). These were housed at the Sapporo Convention Center. ;Competition venues Miyanomoriskijump

A total of 13 venues were scheduled to be used for the games. Some of the venues were also used during the 1972 Winter Olympics. All venues were located within the Sapporo region, except the speed skating venue which was in Obihiro.

Medals

The medal design was revealed on December 21, 2016. The medals were cut using diamonds and the three stars on them are curved to look like ice. The three stars are meant to represent athletes as "Stars of Hope". The diamond-cut surface is also meant to represent the fresh air in the winter along with the snow and ice seen across

. The medals are in diameter and thick. The three kind of medals also weight differently, with the gold () weighing the most, followed by silver () and finally bronze ().

Tickets

The pre-sale of tickets for select events and the opening ceremony started on September 12, 2016, while tickets went on general sale for all events on November 14, 2016. Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboard parallel events, speed skating and the third division of the men's hockey tournament were free admission. Tickets start around . The most expensive tickets at are to the closing ceremony. With a month to go till the start of the games, only 30% of tickets were sold. The only event to be sold out at that time was the men's halfpipe competition in snowboarding, which resulted in more tickets being released for the event.

Torch relay

The torch was lit on February 5 at the Sapporo Snow Festival being held at the

Odori Park is a park located in the heart of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. means "large street" in Japanese. It stretches east to west through Nishi 1 chōme, Ōdōri to Nishi 12 chōme, Ōdōri ("Nishi" means west, and "chōme" is a block in Japanese), and d ...

located in central Sapporo. The ceremony involved a lighting ritual presentation made by the

Ainu people The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...

, indigenous from

island . The relay in itself only lasted one day (on February 6), with the closing of the day seeing the Kamuinomi, which was one of main rituals of the Ainu people. The ritual involved praying for the success of all the athletes taking part in the games. From February 7 to the 17th, the flame be split and then displayed at the City Halls of both Sapporo and Obihiro, as well as the 10 ward offices of Sapporo. The main cauldron was in on front of the Sapporo City Hall and also used for the

torch relay local celebrations, until one hour before the Closing Ceremony, on February 26, when the games main cauldron was relighted.

The Games

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the games took place on 19 February at the

Sapporo Dome The , currently known as for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and is primarily used for association football. It is the home field of the association football club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and was also h ...

. The show included a special performance by Japanese pop band Dreams Come True. In addition to the traditional protocol elements, this ceremony was marked by innovative elements such as the schedule and the holding of two award ceremonies that had to be brought forward due to the Games calendar among the cultural elements that the

was invited to be part.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony of the games took place on 26 February at the conclusion of the men's event in the figure skating. The ceremony was held at the Makomanai Ice Arena and also included an exhibition gala by some of the figure skaters who took part in competition.

Sports

64 events across 11 winter sport disciplines, were scheduled in the 2017 Asian Winter Games program. The five ice sports are

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...

short-track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

.Present at the 2011 edition:

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

and

Ski orienteering Ski orienteering (SkiO) is a cross-country skiing endurance winter racing sport and one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the IOF. A successful ski orienteer combines high physical endurance, strength and excellent technical ...

were dropped by the Organizing Committee. The five snow sports are alpine,

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

cross-country, freestyle,

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

, and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

. Due to infrastructure issues and also established in the OCA regulations, four sports that are on the program for the Winter Olympics were not part of the program for this edition:

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics in ...

, and

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

. ''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sports discipline.'' * * * * * * * * * * *

Participating teams

2017 Asian Winter Games Participating Nations

32 NOCs (including the two invited

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

NOCs) competed.

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

made their debuts. Three additional countries were scheduled to participate:

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(did not submit entries by the deadline),

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

(were not members of the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

, and thus their application to participate was rejected). After competing at the last edition of the games, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Palestine did not compete here. On the other hand, after missing the last edition, both Macau and Pakistan competed here. Bahrain originally entered a men's ice hockey team but later withdrew, after the government did not approve of the expense of sending the team to the games, amidst a drop in oil prices. In September 2016, it was announced athletes from

were invited to compete. Countries from Oceania are however listed separately as they are not deemed as official competitors, but are considered as invited guest athletes (therefore they are not eligible for medals). The Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended in October 2015, due to political interference. Therefore, the athletes from the country is scheduled to compete under the Olympic flag as ''Independent Olympic Athletes''. ''The numbers in parentheses represents the number of participants entered.''

Calendar

Competitions will start the day before the opening ceremony on the 18th, and ending with the figure skating men's free program and closing ceremony. The full schedule can be seen below.

Medal table

Source:

Marketing

Mascot

The official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

of the 2017 Asian Winter Games is named Ezomon. Ezomon is modeled after a very special type of

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe (biology), tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family (biology), family Squirrel, Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight i ...

only found in the

region of

. Ezomon sports a red scarf and a blue cape with the logo of the 2017 Asian Winter Games on it.

Concerns and controversies

APA Hotel

One of the athletes hotels is the APA Hotel in Sapporo. The founder and president of this hotel chain, Toshio Motoya, who is a strong supporter of political and historical view aligned with those of Japan's right wing. For example, Motoya claimed that " Japanese aggression, the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing, the capital of the Republ ...

, and

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

" were "fabricated stories" or "fictitious". His book is available in each of the guest rooms at the hotel. This created controversy, particularly in China, which caused the games organizers to ask the hotel to take appropriate actions and remove them from guest rooms. The Organizing Committee will gain exclusive access over the hotel from February 12, and an organization committee official said, "we can decide what is removed and placed in the guest rooms so that we don’t place any items that offend athletes, from not only China, but also any other nation”. Eventually both South Korea and China requested that their athletes stay at a different hotel, and the organizing committee obliged by changing their accommodations to the Sapporo Prince Hotel.

Scheduling

This event is being held around World and other major championships of some of the sports being contested. Included in this is the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017 being held in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

, Switzerland, till 19 February (the opening of the games). Due to this some teams including among others Lebanon, have decided to not send their best team. The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, Finland will also happen during the games (between February 22 and March 5) which has caused Iran to not send a cross-country skiing team at all. Also, the reason cited for low ticket sales, is that many top athletes chose to focus on the world championships of their various disciplines.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asian Winter Games, 2017

2017 Asian Winter Games The 2017 Asian Winter Games (), also known as Sapporo 2017 (), were a continental winter multi sport events and the 8th edition of the Asian Winter Games. They were held from February 19 to 26 2017 in Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido, Japan. The ...

2017 in Japanese sport 2017 in multi-sport events 2017 in winter sports 21st century in Sapporo

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

February 2017 sports events in Japan International sports competitions hosted by Japan Multi-sport events in Japan Sports competitions in Sapporo

Bid

Development and preparation

Venues

Medals

Tickets

Torch relay

The Games

Opening ceremony

Closing ceremony

Sports

Participating teams

Calendar

Medal table

Marketing

Mascot

Sponsors

Concerns and controversies

APA Hotel

Scheduling

References

External links