Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.
The 2011 Asian Winter Games was a multi-sport event that was held in Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan, that began on January 30, 2011, and ended on February 6, 2011. It was the first time that Kazakhstan hosted such a large event since independence from the Soviet Union. The documents for the hosting city were signed in Kuwait on March 4, 2006.
The 2009 Winter Universiade, the XXIV Winter Universiade took place in Harbin, China. Student athletes from 44 countries took part in the games.
The XXV Winter Universiade, took place in Erzurum, Turkey between 27 January to 6 February. Erzurum is the city at the highest altitude in Turkey, at 1,850 m (6,070 ft), and has over 320 cultural landmarks. Located in Eastern Anatolia Region, it is a city on the traditional silk road and has been governed by many cultures over the centuries. The Erzurum Ice Hockey Arena, located on the Cemal Gürsel Sports Campus, was newly built with an ice rink of 60m x 30m and 3,000 seats for spectators.
The 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, officially known as the II Winter Youth Olympic Games, took place in and around Lillehammer, Norway, between 12 February and 21 February 2016. They were the fourth Youth Olympic Games and the second winter edition. Lillehammer was awarded the games on 7 December 2011 as the only candidate. The games reused venues from the 1994 Winter Olympics; this made Lillehammer the first city to host both regular and Youth Olympics. In addition to Lillehammer, sports were contested in Hamar, Gjøvik and Øyer.
The 2015 Winter Universiade, the XXVII Winter Universiade, was a multi sport winter event held in Granada, Spain and Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. On 14 March 2009, FISU announced that the host would be Granada because they were the only bid.
The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, officially known as the III Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly known as Lausanne 2020, was the third edition of the Winter Youth Olympics; a major international multi-sport event and cultural festival for teenagers that was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, the home of the International Olympic Committee, between 9 and 22 January 2020.
The 2009 New Zealand Winter Games was a multi-sport event that was held in the Otago region of New Zealand. It was the inaugural New Zealand Winter Games and was organised by the Winter Games New Zealand Trust. Approximately 816 athletes from 41 nations participated in 51 event in seven disciplines.
The compactness of the venue locations for the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics, hosted by the county of Pyeongchang, South Korea was one of the winning arguments of the bid. The Games were gathered around two main venues: these were the mountain resort of Alpensia in Pyeongchang for the outdoor (snow) sports and the coastal city of Gangneung for the indoor (ice) sports There were also two stand-alone mountain venues.
The 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in and around Lillehammer, Norway, between 12 February and 21 February 2016. Nine competition and twelve non-competition venues are to be used; all except the Youth Olympic Village in Lillehammer and a training ice rink being are existing venues. All the competition venues and some of the non-competition venues were built ahead of the 1994 Winter Olympics. The games be held in four municipalities: Lillehammer, Hamar, Gjøvik and Øyer.
The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and also known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo beat another joint bid from Swedish cities Stockholm–Åre by 47–34 votes to be elected host cities at the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.
Beijing 2022 was a successful bid by Beijing, China and the Chinese Olympic Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The IOC selected the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31, 2015, which Beijing won.
Lviv 2022 was a bid by the city of Lviv and the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Lviv withdrew its bid on 30 June 2014. The IOC ultimately selected Beijing as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 31 July 2015.
Zakopane 2006 was an unsuccessful bid by Zakopane, Poland, and the Polish Olympic Committee to host the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was one of six candidates, but failed to be short-listed.
Klagenfurt 2006 was an unsuccessful multi-national bid submitted by Klagenfurt, Austria and the Austrian Olympic Committee to host the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was one of six candidates, but failed to be short-listed.
Helsinki 2006 was a joint bid for the 2006 Winter Olympics presented by the city of Helsinki and Finnish Olympic Committee. Some of the proposed venues were located in Lillehammer, Norway.
Quebec 2002 was an unsuccessful bid by Quebec City, Canada, and the Canadian Olympic Committee to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. This was the city's first time to bid. Canada had previously hosted the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Alberta and would go on to successfully bid and host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, officially known as the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly known as Gangwon 2024, are an upcoming youth winter multi-sport event scheduled to be held between 19 January and 2 February 2024 in Gangwon Province, South Korea.
Stockholm–Åre 2026 was an unsuccessful bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics by the cities of Stockholm and Åre and the Swedish Olympic Committee.
This is a chronological summary of the major events of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and venues near neighboring towns of Yanqing and Chongli in the People's Republic of China. Competition began on 2 February with the first matches in the group stages of the curling events. The opening ceremony was held two days later on 4 February. The last day of competition and the closing ceremony were on 20 February.
