The Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be special for many reasons.
For starters, it is the first time the event has ever come to Asia!
And while there will be some brand new events on show, they will take place in some familiar venues which were used for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics , in what is a perfect fusion of old and new.
With the next generation of winter sports stars about to be unearthed, we’ve compiled a list of the top facts you need to know ahead of Gangwon 2024.
Record participation numbers for Asia’s first Winter Youth Olympics
Gangwon 2024 will be the fourth iteration of the Winter YOG, and the first in Asia.
The previous editions took place in Innsbruck (2012), Lillehammer (2016), and Lausanne (2020).
We will also see a record number of participants on show in Korea, with 1, 900 competitors, up from 1, 788 in Lausanne.
As with the previous Games, there will be a 50/50 split between male and female competitors.
Gangwon 2024 Opening Ceremony and event dates
The Opening Ceremony will take place on 19 January 2024, and the Closing Ceremony is on one February 2024.
Both events is going to be hosted at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre, part of the Alpensia Sports Park where the majority of events at the Games will be based.
Reused venues from PyeongChang 2018 Olympics
Sustainability will be at the core of Gangwon 2024’s mission, and the majority of events will take place within pre-existing venues built for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics .
There will be two main clusters: Outdoor mountain occasions will be hosted at the Alpensia Sports Park in PyeongChang, while the indoor ice activities will take place in the nearby city of Gangneung – both in the province of Gangwon.
Ski jumping, Nordic combined, and snowboarding big air will be staged at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre.
Biathlon, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, and the sliding sports of luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton will also occur in the Alpensia Sports Park .
The nearby coastal Gangneung Olympic Park will have four indoor sports venues, including the Hockey Centre, Curling Centre, the Gangneung Oval for speed skating, as well as the Ice Arena for short track speed skating plus figure skating.
The Youth Olympic Village will be located at student accommodation facilities at Gangneung-Wonju University.
The Alpensia Sports Park hosted the mountain events at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
Picture by 2015 Getty Images
No mixed NOC events, new mixed gender events
The Gangwon 2024 programme will consist of 15 disciplines across seven sports.
For the first time ever at a Winter YOG, there will be no mixed National Olympic Committee (NOC) events.
The particular International Olympic Committee made this decision in order to provide a greater focus on young elite athlete development pathways.
However , those combined events will be replaced simply by equivalent events for single NOC participants.
In addition , there will be two brand new 1, 500m short track speed skating events in Gangwon, while there will be a new mixed-gender relay to replace the particular mixed NOC relay in cross-country.
A mixed team Nordic combined competition will also make its debut.
Freestyle skiing and snowboarding may have an increase from eight to 10 events per discipline.
Famous legacies at Gangwon 2024
There will be some seriously big boots to fill at this Winter Youth Olympics.
Lara Colturi, an alpine ski star-in-the-making who already boasts a large social media presence is the daughter associated with Italian Olympic gold medallist Daniela Ceccarelli.
Last year Colturi switched allegiances in order to Albania, and will certainly be one to watch.
Elsewhere, Estonia’s Henry Sildaru , the brother of Beijing 2022 Olympic bronze medallist Kelly Sildaru, is one of the freestyle snowboarding favourites having won the 2021 Junior World Championships.
In freestyle snowboarding watch out for Murase Yura of Japan, the younger sister associated with Murase Kokomo who won big air bronze at Beijing 2022.
Finally, there will be no shortage of inspiration on the sidelines for that athletes, with Vancouver 2010 figure skating Olympic champion Yuna Kim signed up to be an honorary Gangwon 2024 ambassador.
Kim is reviving a role she played at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics.
Read more: Meet Lara Colturi!
Gangwon 2024 motto
The Gangwon 2024 slogan of “Grown together, shine forever” was launched at the 500 days-to-go countdown celebration.
The slogan was selected on the basis of feedback from a diverse group of people of different genders, ages and countries associated with residence.
“The slogan expresses the pivotal ideas of the Games’ vision: ‘growth, coexistence, harmony, and future’ through the message of the spirit and hope for the future, and the spirit of the growing young people, ” said Kim Chulmin , YOGOC’s Secretary General.
The aim of Gangwon 2024 is to drive positive change and social unity in the region, impacting society in the areas of sport, culture and education.