Competition Information From left, Jun Murakami, Special Olympics Nippon; Lee Young Suk, Special Olympics Korea; Jia Liu, Special Olympics China and Chun Sum Ma, Special Olympics Hong Kong at the start of their speed skating race during the 3rd Special Olympics Nippon National Winter Games in Nagano 27–29 February, 2004. Those Games also served as the Preliminary Games for the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games, which will be held 26 February through 5 March 2005.       In addition to inspiring competition, the World Games offered a variety of educational and social events. [Photo credit: Nagaya/Kishimoto] In Nagano, the first city in the world to host the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics World Games, athletes competed in Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, floor hockey, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and speed skating. (Note: All athlete numbers are estimates.) Alpine Skiing (Number of athletes: 350)      Events Downhill (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) Slalom (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) Giant Slalom (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced)      Events for athletes of lower ability levels 10m Walk Glide Super Glide Cross Country Skiing (Number of athletes: 350)      Events 500m 1km 3km 5km 7.5km 10km 4x1km relay      Events for athletes of lower ability levels 10m 25m 50m 100m Figure Skating (Number of athletes: 120)      Events Singles Pair Skating Ice Dancing Floor Hockey (Number of athletes: 900) Team competition (11-16 athletes per team) Snowboarding (Number of athletes: 50)      Events Super Giant Slalom (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) Giant Slalom (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) Slalom (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) Snowshoeing (Number of athletes: 170)      Events 100m 200m 400m 800m 1600m 5km 4x100m relay      Events for athletes of lower ability levels 25m 50m Speed Skating (Number of athletes: 190)      Events 111m 222m 333m 500m 777m 1,000m 1,500m      Events for athletes of lower ability levels 25m Straightaway 55m Half-Lap