Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games, or YOG, is an international multi-sport event. It is designed specifically for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), these Games celebrate both athletic skill and personal growth. They are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events. This format follows the current Olympic Games schedule. However, the YOG uses a reverse order for its winter events. The Winter Youth Olympic Games are held during leap years.

This unique timing helps distinguish the youth events from the senior Olympics.

The mechanism of the YOG involves more than just competition. It includes a Culture and Education Program (CEP). This program was developed because IOC delegates wanted more than just a sporting event. They wanted to foster cultural exchange and education. Participants can engage in debates and learn about Olympic values. The Games also provide opportunities for young people to meet senior Olympic athletes. This creates a bridge between different generations of competitors.

The event serves as an introduction to the concept of Olympism.

There are two distinct types of the Games: Summer and Winter. The Summer YOG features many different sports. Many of these use modified versions of traditional sports to suit the youth format. For example, regular basketball is replaced by 3x3 basketball. Football becomes futsal, and handball becomes beach handball.

The 2026 Summer Games will be the first to feature an equal number of events for boys and girls. The Winter YOG focuses on snow and ice sports. These include disciplines like ski mountaineering, which was added as an optional sport in 2020.

The 2024 Winter Games in Gangwon also achieved gender equality in its event program.

The history of the YOG began with an idea from Johann Rosenzopf. He was an Austrian industrial manager who proposed the concept in 1998. He wanted to address global concerns regarding childhood obesity. He also noticed a drop in youth participation in sports within developed nations. The IOC officially approved the creation of the Games on July 6, 2007. This happened during the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City.

The first Summer YOG took place in Singapore in 2010. The first Winter YOG was held in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012.

The scale of the YOG is intentionally smaller than the senior Olympics. This allows smaller cities to host the event successfully. Host cities must follow specific requirements to manage the scale. They are required to keep all events within a single city. A building moratorium exists to prevent the construction of new sports venues. Exceptions are made for a media centre, an amphitheatre for workshops, and an athletes' village.

This village acts as the central hub for all athlete activity. For Summer editions, the athletics venue must hold 10,000 people. Additionally, a bidding city must have a 2,500-seat aquatics facility.

Participation numbers show how the Games have grown. The 2010 Singapore Summer Games hosted 3,600 athletes from over 200 countries. These Games lasted for 13 days. In contrast, the 2012 Innsbruck Winter Games had 1,059 athletes. The 2016 Lillehammer Winter Games hosted 1,100 athletes over 10 days.

To ensure global representation, the IOC uses Universality Places. This system allows athletes from under-represented nations to compete. It ensures that every nation can send at least four athletes to the Games. This prevents smaller countries from being left out of the international celebration.

The financing of the YOG is a complex process involving shared costs. The IOC and host cities split the expenses for hosting. The IOC pays for the travel costs of athletes and coaches. They also cover room and board for athletes and judges, estimated at $11 million. However, the host city is responsible for all infrastructure and venue costs.

In Singapore, the costs escalated to an estimated S$387 million. The YOG serves as a successor to the discontinued World Youth Games. It also draws inspiration from the European Youth Olympic Festival. These connections show how the YOG fits into a larger system of global youth sports.