Saudi Arabia Wins Bid To Host 2029 Asian Games – With Outdoor Snow Skiing Facilities

Saudi Arabia has won the bid to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029, which will be held in Trojena, Neom.

Neom is a part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 national development plan into which Prince Mohammed bin Salman has poured hundreds of billions of dollars, with the aim of transforming the Saudi economy, creating jobs for citizens, and reducing its dependence on oil. It is a planned US$500 billion futuristic megacity in the desert that planners say will feature a year-round winter sports complex.

First announced in 2017, Neom has consistently raised eyebrows for proposed flourishes like flying taxis and robot maids. In July, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled plans for a project within the Saudi city known as The Line, two parallel mirror-encased skyscrapers extending over 170 kilometers of mountain and desert terrain.

Trojena is an area of Neom where winter temperatures drop below zero celsius and year-round temperatures are generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the region. The Asian Winter Games include competitions for skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey and figure skating – 47 events in all, 28 on snow and 19 on ice, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said.

“The deserts and mountains of Saudi Arabia will soon be a playground for winter sports,” the OCA said in a statement on the decision, made during its general assembly meeting in Phnom Penh. The Saudi bid was “unanimously approved”, the statement said, noting that the Neom megacity will be the first West Asian city to host the event.

The Asian Winter Games is an international multi-sport event. It is held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia.

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