1999 Asian Winter Games

The 4th Asian Winter Games (Korean: 제 4 회 동계 아시안 게임, romanized: je 4 hoe dong-gye asian geim), also known as Kangwon 1999 (Korean: 강원1999), were held from January 30 to February 6, 1999, in the province of Kangwon (now Gangwon), South Korea.^[1] The games were staged in three different clusters in the province which were Yongpyong, Kangnung (Gangneung) and Chunchon (Chuncheon). The name Yongpyong was derived from the Yongpyong Resort.

IV Asian Winter Games

Host city	Kangwon Province, South Korea
Motto	Asia, Shining brightly through Everlasting Friendship
Nations	14
Athletes	799
Events	43 in 4 sports
Opening	January 30, 1999
Closing	February 6, 1999
Opened by	Kim Dae-jung President of South Korea
Main venue	Yongpyong Indoor Ice Rink
Website	kangwonasiad.or.kr (Archived)
Summer
← Bangkok 1998 Busan 2002 →
Winter
← Harbin 1996 Aomori 2003 →

On December 2, 1993, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that South Korea would host the 4th Asian Winter Games in 1999. South Korea initially aimed to host the previous 3rd games but losted the voting process and the 1999 games are awarded for the country.

Development and preparations

Marketing

Mascot

Gomdori, the official mascot of the games

The 1999 Winter Asiad mascot is Gomdori (곰돌이), a half-moon black bear cub.^[2]

Venues

Yongpyong

• Yongpyong Resort – Alpine skiing and organizing committee
• Yongpyong Indoor Ice Rink – Short track speed skating, figure skating, opening and closing ceremonies
• Provincial nordic venue – Cross-country skiing and Biathlon

Kangnung (Gangneung)

• Kangnung Indoor Ice Rink – Ice hockey

Chunchon (Chuncheon)

• Chunchon Outdoor Ice Rink – Speed skating

Games

Sports

A total of 43 medal events in seven sports were played in the Fourth Winter Asian Games. Freestyle skiing was removed from the program while two more events were added to alpine skiing.

•  Alpine skiing (6) (details)
•  Biathlon (6) (details)
•  Cross-country skiing (6) (details)
•  Figure skating (4) (details)
•  Ice hockey (2) (details)
•  Short-track speed skating (10) (details)
•  Speed skating (9) (details)

Participating National Olympic Committees

Names are arranged in alphabetical order. A total of 14 Asian NOCs sent delegations, with those that sent only officials.

•  China (147)
•  Chinese Taipei (11)
•  Hong Kong (4)
•  India (8)
•  Iran (11)
•  Japan (101)
•  Kazakhstan (74)
•  Kuwait
•  Kyrgyzstan (1)
•  Lebanon (2)
•  Mongolia
•  Pakistan (2)
•  South Korea (102)
•  Uzbekistan (7)

Non-competing nations

•  Bhutan
•  Macau
•  Nepal
•  Philippines
•  Singapore
•  Sri Lanka
•  Tajikistan
•  Vietnam

Calendar

●

Opening ceremony

Event competitions

●

Event finals

●

Closing ceremony

January / February 1999	30th Sat	31st Sun	1st Mon	2nd Tue	3rd Wed	4th Thu	5th Fri	6th Sat	Gold medals
Alpine skiing		1	1	1	1	1	1		6
Biathlon			2		2		2		6
Cross-country skiing		1	1	1	1	1	1		6
Figure Skating						1	3		4
Ice hockey						1		1	2
Short-track speed skating		4	6						10
Speed skating				2	2	2	3		9
Total gold medals		6	10	4	6	6	10	1	43
Ceremonies	●							●
January / February 1999	30th Sat	31st Sun	1st Mon	2nd Tue	3rd Wed	4th Thu	5th Fri	6th Sat	Gold medals

Medal table

  *   Host nation (South Korea)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	15	10	11	36
2	South Korea*	11	10	14	35
3	Kazakhstan	10	8	7	25
4	Japan	6	14	9	29
5	Uzbekistan	1	1	1	3
Totals (5 entries)		43	43	42	128

See also

• 1997 Winter Universiade
• 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games
• 2018 Winter Olympics
• 2024 Winter Youth Olympics