The International Skating Union -ISU- and the Olympic Council of Asia -OCA- have launched a multi-year programme in Harbin to develop youth skating across the continent. ISU President Kim Jae-youl presented the collaboration as a sustained structure that will prepare athletes and coaches with the Almaty 2029 Asian Winter Games as its long-term objective. “This year marks a new path that we are building together,” he said in a video message to participants.
For the first time, the project brings a short track speed skating camp and a figure skating camp together within the same edition. The OCA-ISU Asian Short Track Speed Skating Youth Camp runs from 20 to 26 July, followed by the OCA-ISU Asian Figure Skating Youth Camp from 28 July to 3 August. Harbin hosted the first joint figure skating camp in 2025 and is now staging its first youth short track camp. “Bringing these two disciplines together this year marks an important step forward for skating across Asia,” Kim explained.
A multi-year programme leading to Almaty 2029
The main development is the support planned beyond the camps themselves. The ISU will provide development activities throughout the season to extend the work started in China, while the OCA will facilitate connections with national Olympic committees. “This turns the camp from a single event into a sustained effort,” Kim said. The intention is for participants to take the knowledge acquired in Harbin back to their countries and incorporate it into their domestic training structures.
The programme is supported by the Harbin Municipal People’s Government and the Harbin Municipal Bureau of Sports, with the cooperation of the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Chinese Figure Skating Association and the Chinese Skating Association. Kim, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee -IOC- Executive Board, attributed the launch of the project to the collective work of these institutions. “Their continued commitment to developing the next generation of skaters and coaches in Asia is what brings us together here today,” he said.
Harbin turns its experience into education
The short track camp brings together 35 athletes and 12 coaches representing 14 national Olympic committees. The programme draws on the facilities and organisational experience of a city that hosted the Asian Winter Games in 1996 and 2025. Kim described Harbin as a “remarkable ice city”, while Wissam Trkmani, the OCA’s Director of Family Relations and Development Programmes, called it “a city that has become a true winter sports capital for Asia”.
Trkmani explained that the success of the figure skating camp held a year earlier encouraged the partners to expand the programme into short track. That first experience helped participants develop their sporting skills while building relationships across different parts of the continent. “This camp is not a 10-day shortcut. It is about equipping each of you with practical tools, fresh perspectives and the confidence to go back to your home and make a real difference, because we all grow when we learn from each other,” he said.
Coach education extends the programme’s reach
Chun Jae-su leads the technical work at the short track camp. The experienced coach has worked with the national and Olympic teams of South Korea, Canada, the United States, Hungary and China. Across six Olympic Winter Games cycles, from Turin 2006 through to 2026, his athletes have won 18 Olympic medals, including eight golds. His approach focuses on fundamental technique, tactical refinement, race strategy and high-performance training systems for both junior and senior athletes.
Sessions are adapted to the participants’ level, needs and objectives, but Chun believes open communication will determine how much they gain from the programme. He has encouraged coaches to ask questions about planning, knowledge sharing and the fundamentals of short track so they can apply those lessons in their own countries. Through this training, the ISU-OCA collaboration aims to reduce development gaps across Asia, expand the continent’s skating base and connect the legacy of Harbin 2025 with the next Asian Winter Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2029.
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