9 July 2007
GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA--The 119th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the creation of a Youth Olympics. The first summer edition is set for 2010, with the first winter edition set for 2012. The age range for the Youth Olympics is 14-18 years-old; target size is 3,200 for the summer and 1,000 for the winter.
Applications to host the 2010 edition have been opened, bid-city visits are schedule for November and December, and the host is set for selection by postal/mail vote in February 2008.
Like the Olympics, the summer and winter Youth Olympic Games each will be held every four years.
The Youth Olympic Games are the brainchild of IOC President Jacques Rogge, who called them "a steppingstone to the Olympic Games."
The IOC said it hopes the Youth Olympic Games will allow cities and countries that don't have the capacity to stage an Olympics to organize an international event.
Already a half-dozen cities have expressed interest in hosting the 2010 youth event.
The IOC still has many details to refine, including which sports will be contested; whether Olympians ages 14-18 will be eligible to compete; how participants will be selected; and how wide-ranging any doping control would be.
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