National Winter Games: A vivid practice of winter sports initiative

The students of Inner Mongolia Ice and Snow Sports School undergo cross-country skiing training. [Photo/Inner Mongolia News Network]

The 14th National Winter Games vividly embodies the fruitful results of the initiative of "engaging 300 million people in ice and snow activities."

That is according to Yu Haiyan, deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports, in an interview with reporters on Feb 26.

The 14th National Winter Games is the first comprehensive national winter sports event held after the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

For the first time, the Games introduced mass participation events, with cross-country skiing and ice skating becoming popular winter sports activities among the public.

These events cover people of all ages, reflecting the depth of public participation in ice and snow sports, as well as the overall level of public participation in ice and snow sports.

On Jan 14, the mass competitions of the 14th National Winter Games concluded in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The Jilin team swept up gold medals in both snow events, while the Hebei team dominated in two ice events.

This initiative is expected to inspire an increasing number of people to engage in ice and snow sports, thus promoting the transition of these sports from niche to mainstream.

Yu emphasized that the timing of the Games coincided with the Spring Festival holiday and winter vacation, meaning that more people got to attend the events in person or watch them on television.

"This will further inspire people, especially young people, to pay attention to and love ice and snow sports," Yu added.