The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced today that it is considering bidding for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and has opened a process inviting applications from cities in the UK who wish to put themselves forward as a possible candidate city for the Games.
It is the sole authority of the BOA, as the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to approve any candidate city and agree to submit a single bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Therefore, interested cities are invited to submit applications to be considered by the BOA as a possible 2018 candidate city, should the BOA ultimately decide to proceed with a bid.
The deadline for interested cities' submissions is 30th January 2012. The BOA will decide by the end of February whether the organisation will go ahead with a bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, and if so, which city will be put forward to the IOC as the candidate city for the bid.
Ultimately, the IOC will produce a short list of candidate cities in January 2013, before announcing the winning host city in the summer of 2013.
The inaugural Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010 and the second edition is due to take place in Nanjing, China in 2014. The 2018 YOG will involve 3,600 young athletes, aged 15 -18, participating across all of the 28 summer Olympic sports for a duration of 12 days.
The athletes will not only compete at the highest level of youth international sport, but will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme, which is based on the following themes: Olympism & Olympic values; Skill Development; Well-being and healthy lifestyle; Social responsibility and Expression through digital media.
The key elements to any candidate city's submission are the foundations of a strong technical project as well as a clear vision. The vision should align with the city's own priorities and plans for sport, the community and youth as well as the Olympic Movement's priorities. The vision must be sustainable with legacy plans embedded within it, whilst having full governmental and general public support.
The candidate city must also demonstrate an understanding of the YOG’s ethos, particularly the balance of sport, education and culture, and demonstrate evidence of plans for an innovative Culture and Education Programme. Evidence of strong established partnerships with firm commitments and guarantees from all relevant partners is essential, as is visible support from British Olympians. Critically, the city will be required to meet all of the relevant criteria and guarantees as outlined in the IOC's YOG Manual and Questionnaire.
BOA CEO Andy Hunt said: