The Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After those games, the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Having lost the bid for the 1992 Winter Olympics to Albertville in France, Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Games on 15 September 1988, two days before the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies at the 94th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. Due to the calendar changes made in 1986, this was the only time that the Winter Olympics took place two years after the previous Winter Games, and the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics. This was also the first Winter Olympics to be held during the Commonwealth Games and FIFA World Cup year. This was the second Olympic Games of any type hosted in Norway — the first being the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo — and the fourth Olympics overall to be held in a Nordic country, after the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Olympic Games.
The Philippines men's national basketball team, commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
South Korea has traditional sports of its own, as well as sports from different cultures and countries.
The 5th Asian Winter Games, also known as Aomori 2003, took place from February 1 to 8, 2003 in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
Kazakhstan's former long-term President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has challenged sports organizers to engage 30 percent of the country's population in sports. The state has numerous sports clubs where people participate in various types of sports; sport facilities are available to the general public. Kazakhstan currently hosts major international tournaments; Astana and Almaty hosted the VII Asian Winter Games 2011, which drew teams from 27 countries.
This article contains a chronological summary of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Historically, North Korea's participation in international sporting events has been hindered by the relations with South Korea. Until the 1990s, North Korea used to host up to 14 international events every year, albeit in small scale. Since the early 1990s, the amount was reduced to just one, the Paektusan Prize International Figure Skating Festival. More recently, since the 2000s, North Korea both participates in and hosts more international competitions.
Malaysia competed in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. The country was represented by 244 athletes competing in 23 of the 39 sports provided. Among the popular sports were aquatics, athletics, badminton, bodybuilding, bowling, cycling, hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, kabaddi, karate-do, sepak takraw, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting and wushu. Athletes from Malaysia won overall 42 medals, and clinched the eleventh spot in the medal table. Abdullah Sani Karim was the chief of the delegation.
Ice hockey at the 1999 Asian Winter Games took place in the Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink and the city of Gangneung, Gangwon, South Korea with men's and women's events contested.
Ice hockey was featured as part of the 2007 Asian Winter Games at the Changchun Fuao Ice Hockey Rink for the Men's and at the Jilin Provincial Skating Rink for the Women's in Changchun. Events were held from 26 January to 3 February 2007.
Association football and basketball are the most popular sports in Asia. Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The IIHF Asian Oceanic U18 Championship was an annual event held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) each at the start of every year for national under-18 ice hockey teams from Asia and Oceania. The Championships first held in 1984 and was played every year until 2002 where the competition ceased as teams were integrated into the World U18 Championships.
Ice hockey at the 2011 Asian Winter Games was held in Astana (males) and Almaty (females) in Kazakhstan from 28 January to 6 February.
The 2014 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia was an international women's ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The tournament took place between 9 March and 13 March 2014 in Harbin, China and was the fourth edition held since its formation in 2010 under the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia series of tournaments. China won the tournament, their first title since 2010, after defeating North Korea in the gold medal game. South Korea beat in the bronze medal game Australia to claim third place.
Ice hockey at the 2017 Asian Winter Games was held in Sapporo, Japan between 18–26 February at three venues.
South Korea competed in the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo and Obihiro, Japan from 19 to 26 February. The country's goal for the games was a top two finish, and a record medal haul with at least 15 gold medals.
The men's Ice hockey tournament at the 2017 Asian Winter Games was held in Sapporo, Japan between 18 and 26 February at three venues.
The women's Ice hockey tournament at the 2017 Asian Winter Games was held in Sapporo, Japan between 18–25 February at the Tsukisamu Gymnasium.
