The Asian Winter Games is a multi sport event established by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to allow the competition of a variety of sports and winter events and are held every four years.
From having only seven members of the OCA taking part in the first games, the number of nations and regions competing in the Winter Asiad is continuously increasing and during the games in Changchun in 2007, all 45 NOCs sent delegations for the first time ever in the history of the Asian Winter Games.
Sapporo 1986
The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested the idea of having a continent-wide winter version of the Asian Games in 1982. With Sapporo's expertise and infrastructure available after successfully hosting the 1972 Winter Olympic Games, the OCA General Assembly in Seoul in 1984 decided to give Japan the privilege of hosting the first ever Asian Winter Games.
Participating in a total of 35 events in seven sports were 430 athletes and officials from seven countries and regions.
Sapporo 1990
India was originally scheduled to host the second edition of the games, but due to technical and financial difficulties it gave up its hosting rights to Japan in 1989.
The 2nd Winter Asiad saw three NOCs participating in the games for the first time: Chinese Taipei, Iran and the Philippines.
Harbin 1996
The International Olympic Committee’s decision to hold the Winter and Summer Olympic Games two years apart affected the schedule of the 3rd edition of the Winter Asiad, as it had to be moved to 1996 in order to avoid being held at the same time as the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Several NOCs, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Thailand for the first time participated in the games, expanding the number of participating countries and regions to 17.
Kangwon 1999
The sites for the events were Yongpyeong, Chuncheon and Gangneung in South Korea. Skiing events were successfully staged despite the record low snowfall being experienced by the region.
Aomori 2003
It is the Winter Asiad that offered the most medal events to date.
Changchun 2007
This is the second time that China hosted the Winter Asiad. About 800 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions participated in the games.