more games

The Vancouver Winter Olympics were held earlier this year in February. The Winter Olympics alternate in between Summer Olympics, with the next (summer) games to be held in London in 2012.

Actually, that is not strictly true. The next games are also this year.

In three weeks time, there will be a Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore. From the International Olympic Committee (IOC) website

The Vision

The vision of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values. It was during its Session in Guatemala City in July 2007 that the IOC decided to create a new sporting event to educate, engage and influence young athletes inspiring them to play an active role in their communities.

What?

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

Young athletes will participate in high-level competitions and alongside the sports element of the event, will participate in a Culture and Education Programme (CEP) focused on five themes: Olympism and Olympic values, skills development, well-being and healthy lifestyle, social responsibility and expression through digital media.

Non-athletes (young ambassadors, young reporters etc.) will also participate with young athletes in CEP activities.

The sports programme of the first edition of the summer YOG will encompass all 26 sports on the programme of the 2012 Olympic Games, with a smaller number of disciplines and events. Some disciplines will be non-olympic with mixed gender or/and mixed NOC events.
For the winter editions, the athletes will compete in all seven Olympic winter sports, with again a smaller number of disciplines and events.

Who?

The Youth Olympic Games aim to bring together talented young athletes – aged from 14 to 18 - from around the world (exactly 205 NOCs are expected for the Summer editions), but also non-athlete participants such as young ambassadors and young reporters.

The first ever Summer Youth Olympic Games will bring together approximately 3,600 athletes and 1450 officials in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympic Games will bring together around 1,000 athletes and 500 officials in 2012.

When?

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

The first edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games will be held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010.

The first edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held in Innsbruck from 13 to 22 January 2012.

Australia will be fielding a large team. Given all the media attention (eg ABC) being devoted to the upcoming federal election in Australia, most people will not even be aware of these games.

That is, until the Commonwealth Games from 3 to 14 October 2010 in New Delhi.