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The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old,[1] organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format, though in reverse order with the Olympic Winter Games held in leap years instead of the Summer Olympic Games. The first summer version was held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010 while the first winter version was held in Innsbruck, Austria from 13 to 22 January 2012.[2]
The idea of such an event was introduced by Johann Rosenzopf from Austria in 1998. On 6 July 2007, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City approved the creation of a youth version of the Olympic Games, with the intention of sharing the costs of hosting the event between the IOC and the host city, whereas the travelling costs of athletes and coaches were to be paid by the IOC. These Games will also feature cultural exchange programs and opportunities for participants to meet Olympic athletes.
Several other Olympic events for youth, like the European Youth Olympic Festival held every other year with summer and winter versions, and the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, have proven successful. The Youth Games are modelled after these sporting events.[3] The YOG is also a successor to the discontinued World Youth Games.
The Summer Youth Olympic Games of Singapore in 2010 and Nanjing in 2014 each played host to 3600 athletes and lasted 13 days, whereas the Winter YOG of Innsbruck in 2012 had 1059 athletes and Lillehammer in 2016 had 1100 athletes and lasted 10 days. Even though this exceeded initial estimates,[4][5] the YOG are still both smaller in size as well as shorter than their senior equivalents. The most recent Summer YOG was the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games of Buenos Aires. The most recent Winter YOG was the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games of Lausanne. The next Summer YOG to take place will be the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics of Dakar, Senegal while the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics is now taken place in Gangwon, South Korea.
History
The concept of the Youth Olympic Games came from Austrian industrial manager Johann Rosenzopf in 1998.[6] This was in response to growing global concerns about childhood obesity and the dropping participation of youth in sport activities, especially amongst youth in developed nations.[7] It was further recognized that a youth version of the Olympic Games would help foster participations in the Olympic Games.[8] Despite these reasons for having an Olympic event for young people, the IOC's response of holding a purely sporting event was negative.[9] IOC delegates wanted the event to be as much about cultural education and exchange as it was about sports, which is why the Culture and Education Program (CEP) was developed as a component of each celebration of the Games.[9] Jacques Rogge, IOC President, formally announced plans for the Youth Olympic Games at the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City on 6 July 2007.[10] There are several goals for the YOG, and four of them include bringing together the world's best young athletes, offering an introduction into Olympism, innovating in educating and debating Olympic values.[11] The city of Singapore was announced as the host of the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics on 21 February 2008.[12] On 12 December 2008 the IOC announced that Innsbruck, host of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, would be the host of the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012.[13]
Requirements of host cities
The scale of the Youth Olympic Games is smaller than that of the Olympics, which is intentional and allows for smaller cities to host an Olympic event. Potential host cities are required to keep all events within the same city and no new sports venues should be built.[11] Exceptions to this building moratorium include a media centre, amphitheatre facilities for classes and workshops, and a village for coaches and athletes.[11] This village is to be the heart of the Games for the athletes, and the hub of activity.[11] No new or unique transportation systems are required as all athletes and coaches will be transported by local shuttles.[11] According to bid procedures, the athletics venue must hold 10,000 people, and a bidding city must have a 2,500-seat aquatics facility for the Summer editions.[14]
Financing
The original estimated costs for running the Games were US$30 million for the Summer and $15 million to $20 million for Winter Games (these costs did not include infrastructure improvements for venue construction). The IOC has stipulated that costs for infrastructure and venues is to be paid by the host city.[15] The IOC will pay travel costs to the host city and room and board for the athletes and judges, estimated at $11 million. The funding will come from IOC funds and not revenues. The budgets for the final two bids for the inaugural Summer Games as submitted by the IOC came in at $90 million, much higher than the estimated costs.[16] The cost of the first games in Singapore escalated to an estimated S$387 million ($284 million).[17][18] Sponsors have been slow to sign on for the YOG, due to the fact that it is a new initiative and corporations are not sure what level of exposure they will get.[16] The budget for the inaugural Winter Games to be held in Innsbruck has been estimated at $22.5 million, which does not include infrastructure improvements and venue construction.[19]
Participation
Over 200 countries and 3,600 athletes participated in the inaugural 2010 Youth Summer Olympics.[20] Participants are placed in the following age groups: 15–16 years, 16–17 years, and 17–18 years.[21] The athlete's age is determined by how old they are by 31 December of the year they are participating in the YOG.[11] Qualification to participate in the Youth Olympics is determined by the IOC in conjunction with the International Sport Federations (ISF) for the various sports on the program.[11] To ensure that all nations are represented at the YOG the IOC instituted the concept of Universality Places. A certain number of spots in each event are to be left open for athletes from under-represented nations regardless of qualifying marks. This is to ensure that every nation will be able to send at least four athletes to each Youth Olympic Games.[11] For team tournaments one team per continent will be allowed to compete along with a sixth team either representing the host nation or as proposed by the IF with IOC approval. There is a cap of two teams (one boys' and one girls') per nation.[11] Finally, no nation may enter more than 70 athletes in individual sports.[11]
Sports
Summer Youth Olympics
All sports on the core program of the Summer Olympics, as well as most of the optional sports added in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, have been represented in the program of the Summer Youth Olympics. Most team sports use versions with reduced team sizes, including replacing regular basketball with 3x3 basketball, football with futsal, handball with beach handball, field hockey with hockey5s, indoor volleyball with beach volleyball, and, in 2026, baseball with baseball5. The 2026 edition will mark the first time the summer youth program has an equal number of events for boys and girls.[22]
Unlike the traditional Games, it is up to the Organizing Committee to choose which disciplines will be chosen to be played in collective sports. Twenty-seven sports were introduced in the 2010 Games. The Organizing Committee for the 2014 Games, chose beach volleyball (replacing their indoor counterpart) and field hockey as optional sport. In the 2018 Games, six sports were introduced: beach handball (replacing their indoor counterpart), breakdancing, futsal (replacing their association counterpart), karate, roller speed skating and sport climbing. The 28 Olympic core sports are expected to feature in the 2026 Games, being confirmed in 2020.[23][24]
The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) make up the current and discontinued Summer Youth Olympic Games official program and are listed alphabetically according to the name used by the IOC. The discontinued sports were previously part of the Summer Youth Olympic Games program as official sports, but are no longer on the current program. The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport contested at the respective Games; a bullet (•) denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport.
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