1st Asian Winter Games in 8 years to open in China this week
This photo, taken from the main press center of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, Feb. 3, shows a structure with the motto of the Asian Winter Games, "Dream of Winter, Love Among Asia." Yonhap
The first Asian Winter Games in eight years will officially open this week in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, with Korea looking to match its strong showing from 2017.
Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center will be the stage for the opening ceremony, set to begin at 8 p.m. Friday in Harbin, or 9 p.m. the same night in Korea. Male hockey player Lee Chong-min and female curler Gim Eun-ji will be the co-flag bearers for Korea.
This is the ninth edition of the Winter Asiad, but the first since the Japanese city of Sapporo served as the host in 2017.
Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, previously hosted the 1996 Asian Winter Games. It was the only bidder for the rights to hold the 2025 competition when the Olympic Council of Asia decided the host city during its general assembly in July 2023.
Korea will have 148 athletes competing in all six sports — skiing, skating, curling, hockey, biathlon and ski mountaineering. There will be 64 gold medals up for grabs in 11 disciplines.
In 2017, Korea won 16 gold medals to set its Asian Winter Games record and finish in second place behind Japan in the medal race.
Team Korea has set its sights on reaching double figures in the gold medal tally again. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said it is counting on six gold medals in short track speed skating, two gold medals in speed skating and one each from snowboard, freestyle skiing and curling.
The short track national team athletes train at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin, China, Feb. 5. Yonhap
Once again, short trackers will be asked to do the heavy lifting. Led by three-time Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong and the reigning World Cup overall champion Kim Gil-li, the women's team will try to sweep all the gold medals.
The men's team features Park Ji-won, the 2024 World Cup champion. China is expected to give Korea a run for its money, with former Korean Olympic champion Lin Xiaojun — born Lim Hyo-jun — leading the charge.
In speed skating, sprinters Kim Min-sun and Kim Jun-ho are considered Korea's best gold medal hopefuls.
Korean figure skaters will be up against a stacked competition. In the men's singles, Cha Jun-hwan, the 2023 world silver medalist, will have to battle the 2022 Olympic silver medalist from Japan, Yuma Kagiyama. Kim Chae-yeon, who won bronze in the women's singles at the 2024 worlds, will have to contend with Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who has won each of the past three world titles, along with the 2022 Olympic bronze.
On the slopes, snowboarder Lee Chae-un is a gold medal threat in the men's halfpipe event. The 18-year-old is the 2023 world champion in that event, which made him the youngest male snowboard world champion in history.
Skiing and snowboard events will be held at Yabuli Ski Resort, some 200 kilometers southeast of Harbin.
Preliminary action in curling and men's and women's hockey began earlier this week. Heats and quarterfinals in short track are scheduled for early Friday, hours before the opening ceremony.
Korea's first medal could come from curling's mixed doubles event early Saturday, with four gold medals in short track also at stake on the same day. (Yonhap)