The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

held every four years for members of 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 ...

(OCA) featuring winter events. The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested creating a winter version of the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

in 1982. Their efforts were rewarded when they received hosting rights for the first edition, held 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 ...

in 1986, as the city had the infrastructure and expertise gained from hosting of the 1972 Winter Olympics. From having only seven OCA member nations participate in the first edition, the number of competing nations in the Winter Asiad has grown consistently. In the 2007 Asian Winter Games in

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

, 27 out of the 45 members fielded a record number of competitors, while all 45 National Olympic Committees sent delegations for the first time in AWG history. Although games were considered for

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 2009, they were ultimately cancelled. The next edition is scheduled to be held in Neom,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in 2029.

List of Asian Winter Games

* At the 2017 Games, the

invited athletes from

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 ...

. Two countries from the region (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) accepted the invitation and their athletes competed along with 30 NOCs from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Sports

Medal count

As of 2025, the 34 National Olympic Committees have participated throughout the history of the Games. Only China, Japan, and South Korea have won at least one gold medal at every Asian Winter Games, while Japan, China, and Kazakhstan became the only three countries in history to emerge as the first places at the medal tables.

Notes

References

External links