2017 Asian Winter Games

VIII Asian Winter Games

Host city	Sapporo and Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan
Motto	Beyond Your Ambitions (世界につながる、冬にする, Sekai ni tsunagaru, fuyu ni suru)
Nations	32
Athletes	1,147
Events	64 in 11 sports
Opening	February 19, 2017
Closing	February 26, 2017
Opened by	Naruhito Crown Prince of Japan
Closed by	Timothy Fok Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia
Athlete's Oath	Mari Motohashi Go Tanaka
Judge's Oath	Masatsugu Odoka Mai Mizuhori
Torch lighter	Masahiko Harada
Main venue	Sapporo Dome (opening ceremony) Makomanai Ice Arena (closing ceremony)
Website	sapporo2017.org (archived)
Summer
← Incheon 2014 Jakarta-Palembang 2018 →
Winter
← Astana–Almaty 2011 Harbin 2025 →

Part of a series on
2017 Asian Winter Games
Venues Torch relay Opening ceremony Participating nations Medal table Closing ceremony Event calendar
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The 2017 Asian Winter Games (2017アジア冬季競技大会), also known as Sapporo 2017 (札幌2017), was a continental winter multi sport events and the 8th edition of the Asian Winter Games. They were held from February 19 to 26, 2017 in Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido, Japan.

These Games were originally scheduled for 2015, however, in the Olympic Council of Asia's general assembly in Singapore on 3 July 2009, the committee decided to move the Games to one year before the Winter Olympics moving forward. The games began on 19 February with the opening ceremony (the curling and hockey events begin the day before) and ended with the closing ceremony on 26 February.^[1]

Sapporo and Obihiro were named as the host cities on January 31, 2011, as the sole bidding cities. The hosting contract was signed by Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.^[2] It was the third time that Sapporo hosted the event and fourth time in Japan. Previously the city held the two first editions of the Games in 1986 and 1990. Before hosting the first Asian Winter Games, the city was also the host of the 1972 Winter Olympics and the 1991 Winter Universiade.^[3]