From February 7 to 14, 2025, the city of Harbin, People's Republic of China, will become the arena of the IX Asian Winter Games.
This year, the competition will be held in two cities — Harbin and Yabuli, located 200 km to the east. Competitions in speed skating, ice hockey and curling will be held in Harbin. Yabuli will host competitions in skiing, biathlon and ski mountaineering.
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place on February 7 and 14, respectively, at the Harbin International Convention and Exhibition Center Stadium.
The sports event will be attended by 1,147 athletes from 32 Asian countries, who will compete for 196 sets of medals in six sports (11 disciplines). Disciplines include biathlon, alpine skiing, curling, speed skating, short track, figure skating, cross—country skiing, snowboarding, freestyle acrobatics, ice hockey and ski mountaineering.
"There are less than three months left before the start of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin. This event will be one of the most significant sporting events of 2025. In 1996, Harbin already hosted the third Asian Winter Games, where Kazakhstan won 14 gold, 9 silver and 8 bronze medals, taking second place in the overall standings. Since then, our country has been actively participating in the Asian Winter Games and has achieved significant success, winning 196 medals: 78 gold, 62 silver and 56 bronze," said Azamat Imashev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Sports and Physical Culture of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The national team of Kazakhstan will be represented by 139 athletes (71 men and 68 women) in six sports, including:
1. Biathlon — 10 athletes;
2. Curling — 12 athletes;
3. Speed skating — 20 athletes;
4. Figure skating — 4 athletes;
5. Short track — 12 athletes;
6. Cross—country skiing - 12 athletes;
7. Ice hockey (men) — 23 athletes;
8. Ice hockey (women) — 23 athletes;
9. Skiing — 8 athletes;
10. Freestyle acrobatics — 7 athletes;
11. Cross—country skiing - 8 athletes.
In this series, we can mention our athletes who have the potential to achieve high results:
• Biathlon: Asset Dyusenov, Alexander Mukhin, Vladislav Kireev, Galina Vishnevskaya-Sheporenko, Arina Kryukova, Vadim Kurales.
• Cross-country skiing: Olzhas Klimin, Konstantin Bortsov, Nikita Gridin, Svyatoslav Matasov, Nadezhda Stepashkina, Ksenia Shalygina.
• Speed skating: Nuraly Akzhol, Nadezhda Morozova, Artur Galiev, Altai Zhardembekuly, Evgeny Koshkin.
• Short track: Abzal Azhgaliyev, Denis Nikisha, Mersaid Zhaksybayev, Adil Galiakhmetov, Nurtilek Kazhali, Zhanbusinova Madina, Ermek Malika, Azhgalieva Alina, Olga Tikhonova, Yana Khan.
• Freestyle acrobatics: Ardana Makhanova, Ayana Zholdas, Roman Ivanov, Sherzod Khashirbayev.
At the beginning of the year, the emblem and mascots of the upcoming games were presented. The mascots, the Siberian tigers Binbin and Nini, symbolize ice and snow sports, and the emblem conveys the uniqueness and spirit of the Winter Games, emphasizing cultural unity and adherence to traditions.
Kazakhstan has already hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011, when the National team took first place in the overall standings for the first time in Astana and Almaty, winning 32 gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze medals.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/tsm/press/news/details/884473