The forth Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) promises to be the biggest and most hotly contested yet. From 17th - 21st January 2007, over 1,700 elite young athletes will represent every continent of the world across 17 Olympic sports.
Based on the model of the hugely successful European Youth Olympic Festivals, the AYOF is a bi-annual multi-sport event for Olympic aspirants between the ages of 12 and 20. It is organised and hosted by the Australian Olympic Committee, and importantly has the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The AYOF was first held in 2001 and utilises many of the venues used during the extremely successful Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.