1996 Asian Winter Games

III Asian Winter Games

Slogan: ---
Nations participating	15
Athletes participating	453
Events	43 in 8 sports
Opening ceremony	4 February
Closing ceremony	11 February
Officially opened by	Jiang Zemin President of China
Athlete's Oath	---
Judge's Oath	---
Torch lighter	---
Main venue	---
<  1990 1999  >

The 3rd Asian Winter Games were held from February 4 to 11, 1996 in Harbin, China.^[1] North Korea (in Samjiyeon) was originally scheduled to host the games in 1995, but was not able to honour its commitment.^[2] The International Olympic Committee's decision to hold the Winter and Summer Olympic Games two years apart affected the schedule of the 3rd edition of the Winter Asiad, as it had to be moved to 1996 in order to avoid being held at the same time as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway. Several NOCs, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, participated in the games for the first time after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, expanding the number of participating countries to 17.^[3]

Mascot

The 1996 Winter Asiad mascot is Doudou, a character inspired by the pea plant.^[4]

Sports

A total of 43 events in eight medal sports were held in the Third Winter Asian Games. Figure skating was reinstated and Freestyle skiing was added to the program.

• Alpine Skiing
• Biathlon
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Figure Skating
• Freestyle Skiing
• Ice Hockey
• Short Track Speed Skating
• Speed Skating

Demonstration sport only:

• Ski Jumping

Participating nations

Names are arranged in alphabetical order by their IOC country codes.

Medal table

  Host nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China (CHN)	15	7	15	37
2	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	14	9	8	31
3	Japan (JPN)	8	14	10	32
4	South Korea (KOR)	8	10	8	26
5	Uzbekistan (UZB)	0	1	1	2
Total		45	41	42	128

References

Asian Games
Sports OCA NOCs Medal table Mascots
Summer Games	New Delhi 1951 Manila 1954 Tokyo 1958 Jakarta 1962 Bangkok 1966 Bangkok 1970 Tehran 1974 Bangkok 1978 New Delhi 1982 Seoul 1986 Beijing 1990 Hiroshima 1994 Bangkok 1998 Busan 2002 Doha 2006 Guangzhou 2010 Incheon 2014 Jakarta–Palembang 2018 Hangzhou 2022 Nagoya 2026
Winter Games	Sapporo 1986 Sapporo 1990 Harbin 1996 Gangwon 1999 Aomori 2003 Changchun 2007 Astana–Almaty 2011 Sapporo 2017
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