Four cities have recently submitted applications to host the first ever 2012 Youth Winter Olympic Games: Harbin, China; Innsbruck, Austria; Kuopio, Finland; and Lillehammer, Norway.

Jacque Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, expressed his pleasure of having four candidates eager to host the historic event.

According to IOC regulations, cities that hope to host the Games must answer 99 questions in detail on the formal applications. After these are submitted, the IOC appoints to a group of experts to analyze the applications; they in turn generate a report of what they have read. The IOC executive board then uses these reports to select finalists. In November, a voting process will take place to determine the city that most experts believe is best suited to host the Games. In December, the winner will be publicly announced.

About 1,000 youth between 14 and 18 years of age will be competing in seven Olympic events: skiing, ice hockey, biathlon, curling, bobsled, luge and figure skating.

A cultural program is also planned for the participants, which will promote the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship, and respect.

from: beijing2008.cn

IOC President Rogge announces the host city. (Photo credit : Hélène Tobler/IOC)

“The Youth Olympic Games are the flagship of the IOC’s determination to reach out to young people. These Games will not only be about competition. They will also be the platform through which youngsters will learn about the Olympic values and the benefits of sport, and will share their experiences with other communities around the globe. We are looking forward to joining in the celebration in Singapore in 2010″, Rogge added.
The IOC President thanked Moscow for its excellent efforts and the quality of its candidature. He also hoped that today’s disappointment would not discourage it from bidding again.
Rogge also paid tribute to the other seven Candidate Cities which took part in a candidature process that started in August 2007: Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Debrecen (Hungary), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Moscow (Russian Federation), Poznan (Poland), Singapore (Singapore) and Turin (Italy).
(1) Out of the 110 current IOC members, 105 were entitled to vote. In addition to the IOC President, the members from the countries of the finalist Cities did not vote - V. Smirnov, S. Tarpischev and A. Popov (Russian Federation) and S.M. Ng (Singapore).

About the Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games aim to bring together talented athletes – age group 14 to 18 - from around the world to participate in high-level competitions, and will also run, alongside the sports element of the event, educational programmes on the Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values sport can deliver, and the dangers of doping and of training to excess and/or of inactivity.
The first Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore will bring together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials The sports programme will encompass all the sports on the programme of the 2012 Summer Games, but with a limited number of disciplines and events.

from: beijing2008.cn

What are the YOG?
The Youth Olympic Games are a sporting event for young people, balancing sport, education and culture. These Games work as a catalyst in these fields throughout the Olympic Movement.

The YOG’s objectives are:
1. to bring together the world’s best young athletes and celebrate them
2. to offer a unique and powerful introduction to Olympism
3. to innovate in educating and debating Olympic values and challenges of society
4. to share and celebrate the cultures of the world in a festive atmosphere
5. to reach youth communities throughout the world to promote Olympic values
6. to raise sports awareness and participation among young people
7. to act as a platform for initiatives within the Olympic Movement
8. to be an event of the highest international sporting standard.

Who? What? When?
The Youth Olympic Games aim to bring together talented athletes – aged from 14 to 18 - from around the world to participate in high-level competitions, but also, alongside the sports element of the event, to run educational programmes on the Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values sport can deliver and the dangers of doping and of training to excess and/or of inactivity.

The first ever Summer Youth Olympic Games will bring together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials in 2010. The sports programme will encompass all 26 sports on the programme of the 2012 Summer Games, with a limited number of disciplines and events. The first Winter Olympic Youth Games will bring together around 1,000 athletes and 500 officials. The athletes will compete – for the first time in 2012 - in all seven Olympic Winter Sports. The YOG follow the traditional cycle of four years, with Summer Games in 2010, 2014, 2018, etc and Winter Games in 2012, 2016, 2020, etc.
Moscow and Singapore finalists for 1st ever Summer Youth Olympic Games
Out of a list of nine candidates, Moscow and Singapore have been chosen as the finalists for the election of the Host City of the 1st ever Summer Youth Olympic Games to be held in 2010. Their names, together with the evaluation report, have been be submitted to the IOC members for a postal vote. The winning city will be announced by IOC President Jacques Rogge in a live web cast on www.olympic.org on Friday 21 February 2008 from the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

After the 1st Summer YOG in 2010 come the 1st Winter YOG in 2012
The IOC has already launched the bidding process for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012. A letter was sent out to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) informing them of the procedure and documentation available for cities interested in bidding for the Games.

Source and for further informations: olympic.org