The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced today that it is proceeding with a bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and that the city of Glasgow in Scotland will be its Candidate City. The BOA will now formally submit its intention to bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by 1 March 2012.
The BOA Board made its decision to support the submission from Glasgow as a potential Candidate City for the following reasons:
The Board’s recommendation was this evening approved by a vote by the National Olympic Committee.
It is the sole responsibility of the BOA, as the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to approve a Candidate City and agree to submit a bid to the IOC for consideration.
Over the forthcoming months the BOA will work together with officials from the city of Glasgow and the Scottish Government to further develop and progress the submission before the candidature file is delivered to the IOC in October 2012.
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 bid will be underwritten by the City of Glasgow Council and Scottish Government.
BOA Chairman Colin Moynihan said:
Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport Shona Robison said:
Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said:
The 2018 YOG will involve approximately 3,600 young athletes, aged 15 -18, participating across all of the 28 summer Olympic sports in 12 days of competition.
The inaugural Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010, and the first winter YOG was held in Innsbruck earlier this month. The second editions are due to take place in Nanjing, China in 2014, with the winter version being held in Lillehammer, Norway in 2016.
The athletes will not only compete at the highest level of international youth sport, but will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme, which is a core element of the Youth Olympic Games.