China's 14th National Winter Games, which officially started on Feb. 17, concluded Tuesday in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Marking China's premier winter sports event following Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Games features more than 3,000 athletes nationwide competing in 176 events across eight sports.

The eight sports include skating, skiing, biathlon, curling, ice hockey, bobsleigh, luge, and ski mountaineering. The following are some highlights of the sports in the Games.

Skating

Cong Zhenlong (L) of Beijing celebrates during the junior men's speed skating mass start final at China's 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)

Chen Aoyu (front) of Hebei competes during the junior women's speed skating mass start final at China's 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)

Jin Boyang of Beijing performs during the men single free skaing of figure skating event at the China's 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)

Skiing

Xu Mengtao of Liaoning competes during the freestyle skiing women's aerials competition at the 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Li Xinpeng of team Hebei displays his gold medal during the awarding ceremony for the junior mixed team aerials competition of freestyle skiing event at the 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Chen Shuo of Henan competes during the men's aerials competition at the 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Mou Yu)

Biathlon

Hu Weiyao of Liaoning celebrates during men's 15km mass start of biathlon event at the 14th National Winter Games in Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Chu Yuanmeng (front) of Hebei competes during women's 12.5km mass start of biathlon event at the 14th National Winter Games in Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

Meng Fanqi of Jilin competes during the women's 15km final of biathlon event at the China's 14th National Winter Games in Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

Curling

Ba Dexin of Heilongjiang competes during curling mixed doubles gold medal match between Wang Zhiyu/Zhu Zeyangxu of Fujian and Ba Dexin/Jiang Yilun of Heilongjiang at the 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)

Gold medalists Ba Dexin (3rd L)/Jiang Yilun (3rd R) of Heilongjiang, silver medalists Wang Zhiyu (1st L)/Zhu Zeyangxu (2nd L) of Fujian and bronze medalists Ling Zhi(1st R)/Han Yu of Beijing pose for photograph during the awarding ceremony of curling mixed doubles at the 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

Ice hockey

Zhao Xinrui (2nd R) of Inner Mongolia competes during the girl's round robin group B match between Inner Mongolia and Liaoning of ice hockey event in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

Peng Yiyi (L), goalkeeper of Sichuan makes a save during the junior women's gold medal match between Beijing and Sichuan at the China's 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

Players of Beijing celebrate winning the junior women's gold medal match between Beijing and Sichuan at the China's 14th National Winter Games in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

The other three sports Bobsleigh, luge and ski mountaineering have been set up in the National Games for the first time, offering the athletes more opportunities to hone their skills before the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Ski mountaineering  

In ski mountaineering, often referred to as “skimo”, competitors ski uphill and downhill and use mountaineering abilities to race through snow-covered mountains.

Ski mountaineering originated in Europe, with German Wilhelm Paulcke's 1897 completion of the first alpine traverse, which was considered to be the start of modern ski mountaineering. 

Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Games. 

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh is a winter sport invented by the Swiss in the late 1860s, in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.

Luge

Luge riders hurtle down a slippery ice track at great speed, relying on reflexes for steering. Unlike bobsleigh, however, they have no protection should they make an error.

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