Sapporo, Japan, February 15, 2017: The President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Mr Tsunekazu Takeda, believes the Sapporo Asian Winter Games will further display Japan’s commitment to the development of sport in Asia. Writing in the official handbook of the OCA’s 8th AWG, President Takeda says that the JOC and organising committee SAWGOC intend to make the 2017 Asian Winter Games a great success that will help to expand winter sports networks in Asia.

"The event will showcase Japan’s dynamism to Asian countries and regions with the focus on Sapporo – a city where people engage in international exchanges, embrace cultures different from their own and continue to take on new challenges amid Hokkaido’s beautiful natural environment," said Mr Takeda.

The 8th AWG will run from February 19-26 with five sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events for the expected 31 competing National Olympic Committees. The JOC head and IOC Member, who is also Honorary President of SAWGOC, looks back on the history of the OCA’s winter sports festival, as Sapporo staged the first two editions in 1986 and 1990 and Aomori hosted the 2003 event.

"To promote winter sports as well as sporting participation, culture and international goodwill among Asian youths, the 8th Sapporo Asian Winter Games Organising Committee is preparing for the event with Japan’s traditional spirit of hospitality, or "omotenashi", based on safe, reliable and environmentally friendly planning for a spectacle that will encourage athletes from across Asia to perform to the best of their abilities," he adds.

Eleven of the 12 competition venues for the 8th AWG will be in Sapporo, with the speed skating at Obihiro, 200km away.