Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games: Top things you need to know

The next generation of winter sports stars will be unearthed at Gangwon 2024; the first Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Asia.

From 19 January–1 February 2024, a Winter YOG record of 1,900 athletes will gather in the Korean cities of PyeongChang and Gangneung to compete for 81 gold medals.

Here are the top things you need to know as we count down towards the next Youth Winter Olympics.

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Sports events at Gangwon 2024

Events will be held in 15 disciplines across seven sports at the Gangwon 2024 YOG: in 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).

There are 81 sets of medals to be awarded, and for the first time there will be no mixed National Olympic Committee (NOC) team events.

Instead, the equivalent events will be composed of teams of athletes from the same NOCs. A mixed-gender relay event in cross-country skiing will replace two cross-country cross freestyle events from the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, while a mixed-gender Nordic combined team event and 1,500m individual races in short track speed skating will be contested for the first time.

There will be sprint, individual, and relay events in biathlon, monobob, and skeleton, while curling will feature mixed team and mixed doubles competitions.

Luge will feature singles, doubles and team relay events, while ice hockey will feature men’s and women’s six team tournaments, as well as three-on-three competitions.

Freestyle skiing will have an increase from eight to 10 events per discipline, with four events in slopestyle and big air.

Once again there will be gender equality with 34 events for both men and women.

A more detailed breakdown of the events at Gangwon 2024 can be found here.

The stars to watch at Gangwon 2024

The Winter Youth Olympic Games will give many young winter sports stars the opportunity to put their names on the global stage for the first time. One alpine skier to keep on going into Gangwon 2024 is 16-year-old Lara Colturi.

As the daughter of Italian Olympic champion from Salt Lake City 2002 Daniela Ceccarelli, big things are expected of Colturi, who switched allegencies from Italy to Albania in 2022.

Kathryn Gray of the United States is the early favourite for golds in women's freestyle skiing, having claimed medals on the pipe, slope, and big air at the 2022 Junior World Championships in Leysin.

Gray's male compatriot Troy Podmilsak took golds in big air and slopestyle at the same event, while Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Kelly Sildaru's brother Henry Sildaru of Estonia will be expecting a big performance as the 2021 world junior champion.

Japan have a potential snowboarding legend in the making, in Murase Yura. The sister of Beijing 2022 big air bronze medallist Murase Kokomo will hope to follow in her sibling's footsteps.

But winning a medal won't be easy for the youngster, with the likes of Mia Brookes of Great Britain to compete against.

Home hero Chaeun Lee is a favourite in the boys event.

Over in figure skating, Japanese athletes Shimada Mao and Yoshida Hana are two of the key gold medal threats on the women's side after both clinching several victories on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, while USA's Lucas Broussard tops the men's rankings.

Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic venues

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

Outdoor mountain events will be held in PyeongChang, while the indoor ice events will take place in the nearby city of Gangneung.

As with the 2018 Winter Games, the Alpensia Sports Park in PyeongChang will host several events.

The ski jumping, Nordic combined, and snowboarding big air will take place at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre.

Biathlon, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and the sliding sports of luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton will also take place in the Alpensia Sports Park.

The coastal Gangneung Park to the north of PyeongChang boasts indoor sports venues, including the Hockey Centre. The Gangneung Oval will host speed skating, while short track speed skating and figure skating will be hosted in the Ice Arena.

Gangwon 2024 Opening Ceremony and sport schedule

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

A full schedule will be published here as soon as the programme has been finalised.

Gangwon 2024 mascot

The mascot for the event will be revealed on 19 January 2023. Olympics.com will have all the details once it happens.

Gangwon 2024 slogan

The official slogan and vision for the event was revealed in September 2022, to celebrate 500 days to go to the event starting.

Gangwon's vision is "Youth celebrating peaceful coexistence and unity through sport to create a better future together."

The slogan "Grow together, shine forever," was selected as a motto based on feedback from "a diverse group of people of different genders, ages and countries of residence," according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and event organisers.

How to watch and follow Gangwon 2024 action

The Winter Youth Olympic Games will be filmed for live television and digital streaming, with full session replays and highlights also available.

Full details of where and how you can watch the action will be confirmed and covered in detail by Olympics.com ahead of the event.

The official @gangwon2024 social media handles will also have further information.