Gangwon 2024: Asia’s first Winter Youth Olympic Games

Jan 10, 2024·Inside FIS

The countdown is on! The Winter Youth Olympic Games of Gangwon 2024, featuring 6 FIS disciplines, will start on 19 January 2024. We take a look at a few useful things for you to know about the event, including dates, events, schedules, and ambassador Eileen Gu’s words of wisdom.

Gangwon 2024 dates

The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place on 19 January 2024, with the Closing Ceremony on 1 February 2024.

Gangwon 2024 Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony is set to take place at Gangneung Oval and PyeongChang Dome simultaneously. K-pop stars and other cultural performers will be on hand to provide some first-class entertainment.

The ceremony will also see the athletes marching into the stadium and conclusion of the Gangwon 2024 Torch Tour, which will culminate in the lighting of the Youth Olympic cauldron.

Gangwon 2024 schedule

Don't miss out on any of the action, whether you are watching in person, or following the action from around the world. With exciting venues stretching from the mountains to the coast, click this link to find download the Games' schedule now.

Disciplines

There will be gender equality with 15 disciplines across seven sports at the Gangwon 2024 YOG including: biathlon, bobsleigh (including skeleton), curling, ice hockey, luge, skating (including figure skating, short track, and speed skating), and skiing (including alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and snowboard).

New events

For the first time ever at a Winter YOG, there will be no mixed National Olympic Committee (NOC) events, as they will be replaced by equivalent events of the same or a similar format with teams of athletes from the same NOCs.

In addition, there will be two new 1,500m short track speed skating events in Gangwon, while there will be a new mixed-gender relay to replace the mixed NOC relay in cross-country.

A mixed team Nordic combined competition will also make its debut, while freestyle skiing will have an increase from eight to 12 events.

Venues

Outdoor mountain events at Gangwon 2024 will be hosted at the Alpensia Sports Park in PyeongChang, while the indoor ice events will take place in the nearby city of Gangneung - both in the province of Gangwon.

Ski jumping and Nordic combined will be staged at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. Biathlon, cross-country skiing, and the sliding sports of luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton will also take place 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, and the Ice Arena for short track speed skating and figure skating.

Snowboarding big air and alpine skiing will be staged in Welli Hilli Ski Resort and Jeongseon High 1 Ski Resort respectively.

Ticketing information

Tickets will be free of charge for all events, except the Opening Ceremony in Gangneung.

Fans will be able to secure tickets for their favorite winter sports by visiting tickets.gangwon 2024.org.

Legacy

Gangwon 2024 will heavily rely on pre-existing venues and green transport infrastructure built for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Hosts Republic of Korea may even celebrate a medalist from increased sports participation! Click here to find out more about the legacy PyeongChang 2018.

Making history

Gangwon 2024 will be the first Winter YOG to be held in Asia.

The event will also feature a record number of participants with 1,900 competitors taking part in Republic of Korea, up from 1,788 at Lausanne 2020.

As with the previous Games, there will be a 50/50 split between male and female competitors.

Moongcho the mascot

Moongcho's name is derived from the Korean word “Moongchida,” which means to bring together various thoughts and powers.

Born of a snowball used in a snowball fight between PyeongChang 2018 mascots Soohorang and Bandabi, it represents the youth uniting and growing together through the YOG.

For more information on Moongcho and how it was created by the youth of the Republic of Korea, click here.

Moongcho - Gangwon 2024 Mascot

Star ambassadors from Republic of Korea

A host of sporting and cultural icons have signed up as ambassadors for Gangwon 2024, in order to spread the Olympic values and inspire the young athletes.

Some of the Republic of Korea stars involved include Yun Sung-bin, Choi Min-Jeong, and Yuna Kim, Olympic champions in skeleton, short track speed skating, and figure skating respectively.

Eileen Gu

Another Gangwon ambassador is multiple Olympic and Youth Olympic champion freeskier Eileen Gu.

The People's Republic of China star told Olympics.com that Gangwon 2024 'aligns perfectly with the message I hope to spread to young people worldwide: Sport is for everyone, regardless of gender, age, ability, geographic location, and religion'.

Stars to watch

Some future Olympic stars will undoubtedly be competing at Gangwon 2024, and here are just some of the names to watch out for:

Naoki Rossi (Switzerland), figure skating
Shin Ji-a (Republic of Korea), figure skating
Shimada Mao (Japan), figure skating
Miha Oserban (Slovenia), alpine skiing
Annika Hunt (USA), alpine skiing
Flora Tabanelli (Italy), freestyle skiing
Lucia Georgalli (New Zealand), snowboard
Lee Chae-un (Republic of Korea), snowboard
Choi Ga-on (Republic of Korea), snowboard

Athletes with familiar names

Also keep an eye out for Lara Colturi, the daughter of Italian Olympic gold medalist Daniela Ceccarelli competing for Albania in alpine skiing.

Elsewhere, Estonia’s Henry Sildaru, the brother of Beijing 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Kelly Sildaru, is one of the freestyle skiing favorites, while Murase Yura of Japan, the younger sister of Murase Kokomo who won big air bronze at Beijing 2022, is competing in freestyle snowboarding.