Action and not just words
Rogge underlined the importance of this new event for the IOC. “By offering the youth of today and tomorrow an event of their own in the spirit of the Olympic Games, the IOC has shown that its commitment to them is about action and not just words”, he said.
Next deadline: 26 October 2007
During the workshop, the 10 cities were taken through the concept of the Youth Olympic Games and the requirements to host the first summer edition of those Games in 2010. On the basis of these detailed briefs and a specific questionnaire, they will now prepare the candidature files to be handed in on 26 October 2007. These files will be analysed by a panel of experts representing the Olympic Movement, who will draw up a shortlist of Youth Olympic Games Candidate Cities to be further evaluated by an IOC Evaluation Commission. The election and announcement of the host city will take place in February 2008.
Ten instead of eleven
Algiers (Algeria), Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Debrecen (Hungary), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Moscow (Russia), Poznan (Poland), Singapore (Singapore), and Turin (Italy) were the ten cities present at the workshop. Belgrade (Serbia), which had initially expressed it intention to participate in 2010 has announced that it will instead be a candidate for 2014.