With the Asian Winter Games just 30 days away in the renowned ice city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, test events across various disciplines have been in full swing, and organizers are reinforcing their emergency preparedness through a comprehensive system that integrates medical, meteorological, and other vital support services. At a press conference on Wednesday, the official schedules for both the overall competition and individual sports were announced. Ice hockey and curling are set to start before the opening ceremony due to their longer schedules and larger number of competitors. These events will kick off on February 3 and 4, respectively, extending the total competition period to 12 days.
From September 2024 to January 2025, the Games' organizing committee has planned 14 sports events as test runs, covering all competition venues and events.
In the past few days, cross-country skiing test events took place at the Yabuli Ski Resort some 190 kilometers away from Harbin City, featuring women's and men's individual sprints and relay races. These events offered organizers a valuable opportunity to rehearse and fine-tune major operations, including timing and scoring, competition management, medical response, and venue coordination.
According to Wang Guangzhi, deputy commander of the Yabuli snow sports section of the Games' Medical Command Center, specialized equipment has been deployed for emergency rescue in challenging high-altitude areas.
"For some locations hard to access on high mountain slopes, a snowmobile can directly transport ski doctors to the site to provide emergency treatment for athletes. If the patient is in an emergency situation and needs to be transported to Harbin City, we can complete it with a helicopter," Wang said.
In addition, to ensure accurate forecasting, over 60 advanced automated meteorological monitoring systems have been installed in key areas such as the venue for the opening and closing ceremony, competition sites, and along major highways.
The 9th Asian Winter Games, scheduled between Feb 7 and Feb 14, is expected to see the highest participation in the event's history, with a total of 1,275 athletes from 34 countries and regions already registered.
Test events underway, support services ready for 2025 Asian Winter Games
