68-Youth Olympic Games (YOG)

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are planned to be a "junior" version of the Olympic Games, complementing the current "senior" Games, and will feature athletes between the ages of 14 and 18. The idea for such an event was conceived by IOC president Jacques Rogge, in 2001. At the 119th IOC session in Guatemala City in July 2007, the IOC approved the Games.

The IOC will allow a maximum of 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the Summer Games, while 970 athletes and 580 officials are expected at the Winter Games. Each participating country will be allowed to send at least four athletes. The sports contested at these games will be the same as those scheduled for the traditional Games, but with a limited number of disciplines and events, and including some with special appeal to youth.

It has been stressed that the host cities will not build any major venues, except some temporary structures or possibly an Olympic Village. Multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multi-age requirements are the targets of the program which stress the themes of "Learning to know, learning to be, learning to do, and learning to live together."

Estimated cost for the games are currently $30 million for the Summer, and $15–$20 million for Winter Games. It has been stated that the IOC will "foot the bill" for the Youth Games. The first host city will be Singapore in 2010; the bidding for the first Winter edition in 2012 is underway.

Youth Olympic Games, Singapore, 2010
[8/29/10]
On Saturday, August 14, 2010, Singapore welcomed young athletes from around the world in a ceremony opening the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG). This is the first ever Summer Youth Olympics, an event designed to be celebrated in the same tradition of the Olympic Games - the major difference being that the competitors are all between 14 and 18 years of age. This year, 3,500 athletes from more than 200 countries are competing in 184 events in 26 sports. These games ran until its closing ceremony on Thursday, August 26, 2010.

Innsbruck, Austria will host the 2012 Youth Winter Olympic Games - Jan 13 - Jan 22, 2012
Nanjing, China will host the 2014 Youth Summer Olympic Games.