The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international
multi-sport event held every four years for members of the
Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) 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 did not take place and were cancelled.[1] After the
2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, the next edition is scheduled to be held in Harbin in 2025.
At the 2017 Games, the
Olympic Council of Asia invited athletes from
Oceania. Two countries from the region (
Australia and
New Zealand) accepted the invitation and their athletes competed along with 30 NOCs from
Asia.