The official count of 1,803 athletes from 79 countries has been confirmed for the upcoming Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon-do Province (Gangwon 2024). From left are figure skater Shin Jia, ice hockey player Lee Youngmin and ski jumper Yang Seungchan. (Gangwon 2024's official Facebook page) 

By Cao Thi Ha

The official number of athletes and countries for the upcoming Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon-do Province (Gangwon 2024) has been confirmed.

The competition's organizing committee on Jan. 9 said 1,803 competitors from 79 nations will take part in the tournament.

The number of countries participating is the highest in the event's history and three times more than the last one in 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

By countries, Korea has the most competitors with 102, followed by the U.S. with 101 and Germany 90.

The event has attracted not only leading winter sports powers such as Austria, whose contingent has 61 athletes, Canada (79), France (65) and Sweden (53) but also countries where winter sports are far less common such as Nigeria (six), the Philippines (three) and the United Arab Emirates (two).

As the first event of its kind to be held in Asia, Gangwon 2024 will run from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1 in Gangwon-do's city of Gangneung and counties of Pyeongchang-gun, Jeongseon-gun and Hoengseong-gun.

Tickets to events can be reserved through the tournament's official website (https://tickets.gangwon2024.org).

shinn11@korea.kr