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Saudi Arabia to host 2029 Asian Winter Games at NEOM megacity

The international multi-sport event will take place in Trojena, which will be a year-round destination for winter sports…

Saudi Arabia has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games (AWG).

If you’re an avid sports enthusiast, get ready to time your trip to the Kingdom, so you get to catch top sporting action at this high-profile event.

The AWG is an international multi-sport event. It is held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia. The games include skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey and figure skating competitions, and there are 47 events in all, with 28 being on snow and ten on ice.

Saudi Arabia, the first nation in western Asia to host the games, will see participation from over 32 countries.

The 2029 Asian Winter Games will be held in Trojena, a mountain resort, which is part of the supersized NEOM master plan.

It’s a region characterised by a mountain range with the highest peaks in the Kingdom, at approximately 2,600 meters above sea level. Hence, temperatures are cooler, and it will have a suitable infrastructure to create a year-round destination for winter sports.

Set to be completed in 2026, Trojena will offer outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake, a nature reserve, ultra-luxury family and wellness resorts, complete with a wide range of retail stores and restaurants.

“With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership and HRH Crown Prince to the sports sector, we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG TROJENA2029 as the first country in west Asia,” the Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal said on Twitter.

NEOM is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s most ambitious project under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 development plan, aiming to create jobs for citizens, reduce its reliance on oil, and transform the Saudi economy, including by developing sports.

In July, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also unveiled plans for a project within NEOM known as The Line, two parallel mirror-encased skyscrapers extending over 170km of mountain and desert terrain.

Images: Social

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