Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025: Complete Preview and Full Schedule Perfect and Best
After successfully hosting the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China is set to welcome the world’s largest continent once again, this time for the ninth edition of the Asian Winter Games, taking place from February 7 to 14.
The Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025 are making a grand return to Harbin, People’s Republic of China, bigger and better than ever before. That is the batter website for viewing the details of the Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025.
After nearly three decades, the ninth edition of the Games returns to Harbin, which previously hosted the third edition in 1996. This time, the Games will feature a record-breaking 34 participating countries/regions and 1,275 athletes—775 men and 520 women.
The official opening of Harbin 2025 will take place on Friday, February 7, at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Centre, where the Closing Ceremony will also be held on February 14.
Ahead of the opening, ice hockey will kick off the action on Monday, followed by curling on Tuesday.
The competition will unfold across seven venues, with 64 events spanning 11 disciplines. A notable change in the program is the inclusion of ski mountaineering, which replaces ski jumping from the 2017 Sapporo-Obihiro Games in Japan.
This year also marks the debut of Bhutan, Cambodia, and Saudi Arabia at the Asian Winter Games, while Afghanistan and Bahrain are rejoining after their absence in 2017. Back then, the Games saw participation from 30 National Olympic Committees, along with Australia and New Zealand as guest nations.
Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025: Who to watch
Just as they did in Hangzhou two years ago—when the Games originally scheduled for 2022 were postponed by a year due to the global pandemic—the hosts will aim to dominate the medal table by sending 170 athletes, split evenly between 85 men and women.
Six of these athletes claimed gold at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games: American-born freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu, along with Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu, and Gao Tingyu in freestyle skiing, speed skating, and short track respectively. Fan Kexin also earned gold in short track, while Liu Shaoang, the Hungarian-born Chinese short track skater, hopes to win gold for his father’s homeland alongside his brother, Shaolin.
Japan and South Korea will bring formidable competition to Harbin.
From Japan, anything short of gold will be a disappointment for Olympic figure skating medallists Sakamoto Kaori and Kagiyama Yuma. In Snowboard, Tomita Sena and Shimizu Sara are set to represent the women’s side, while male teens Yamada Ryusei and Shigeno Shuichiro aim to set themselves up for Milano Cortina 2026. Long track speed skater Morishige Wataru, bronze medallist in the men’s 500m at Beijing 2022, is hoping to end a winless season with some silverware.
South Korea will be looking to dominate the short track, their signature sport. Three-time Olympic champion Choi Minjeong and 2023-24 World Cup overall champion Kim Gilli will be key players on the women’s side, with short track legend Park Jiwon vying to reaffirm his status as the world’s top competitor.
In figure skating, Cha Junhwan and Kim Chaeyeon will look to challenge Sakamoto and Kagiyama, while the crowd will be eagerly watching snowboarder Lee Chaeun, the youngest-ever men’s halfpipe world champion and winner of the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games.
Discover everything you need to know about the Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025, including a complete event preview, full schedule, and top athletes to watch as they compete for gold.
Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025: Event Schedule
The official schedule and results are available here
- Opening Ceremony: 7 February
- Speed Skating: 8-11 February
- Short Track Speed Skating: 7-9 February
- Figure Skating: 11-13 February
- Ice Hockey: 3-14 February
- Curling: 4-14 February
- Alpine Skiing: 8-9 February
- Cross-Country Skiing: 8-12 February
- Freestyle Skiing: 8-13 February
- Snowboarding: 8-13 February
- Biathlon: 11-13 February
- Ski Mountaineering: 9-12 February
- Closing Ceremony: 14 February