Fujian Provincial Sports Delegation enters during the opening ceremony of the 14th National Winter Games. [Photo by Libo/fjsen.com]

The 14th National Winter Games of the People's Republic of China officially opened in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia on Feb 17, with 24 athletes representing Fujian province in four major competitions. This marks the first time Fujian has organized a delegation to partake in the event.

At this year's Games, Fujian province, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Beijing exchanged, introduced, and jointly trained 35 athletes to participate in the preliminaries, 32 of whom made it to the finals. During the opening and closing ceremonies (from Feb 17 to 27), 24 athletes participated in curling, skiing, skating, and biathlon in four major events and 29 minor events.

On Jan 25, in the snowboarding competition, Ban Xuefu, an athlete jointly trained by Fujian and Inner Mongolia, won the Men's Parallel Giant Slalom in the open group, the first gold medal in the National Winter Games of Fujian. In addition, Du Bingcong, another player jointly trained by Fujian and Inner Mongolia, won a bronze medal in the men's competition of the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom youth group held on Jan 23.

The Games, the first major national winter sports event since the Beijing Winter Olympics, is also a large-scale training for 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, featuring eight major events and 16 sub-events, totaling 176 individual events.

This event has attracted delegations from 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, as well as from the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions. With over 3,700 athletes, it is the largest event in the Games' history.