A quality field of top international athletes has been confirmed for the inaugural New Zealand Winter Games, including a host of Olympians, world champions and national champions, with entries still flooding in.
More than 800 competitors from over 20 different countries will descend on the South Island next month to take on New Zealand's best winter sports athletes at the Games which has been organised as a buildup event to next year's winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Among the stars confirmed so far are five-time Olympic medalist and current Olympic slalom champion Anja Paerson from Sweden, 2006 Olympic cross-country sprint gold medal winner Chandra Crawford from Canada, Japan's former skier-X World Champion Hiroomi Takizawa plus Australian halfpipe snowboarders Nathan Johnstone - the current world number two - and Holly Crawford who finished runner-up in this year's World Championships in Korea.
The Winter Games will take place at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Farm, Naseby and Dunedin from August 21st to 30th.
It will feature disciplines of alpine skiing, free skiing, x-country skiing, snowboarding, curling, ice skating and adaptive snow sports as well as the demonstration sports of winter triathlon and natural luge.
