Leo Wallner, President of the Austrian Olympic Committee, and Martin Schnitzer, CEO of Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games bid, outlined Innsbruck’s plan for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games.
At a press conference Thursday Wallner said, “the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will discover a plan that offers a high level of convenience and a significant measure of innovation. All the sports venues are concentrated in two zones in Innsbruck and Seefeld and the Culture and Education Programme has the potential to generate a digital media phenomenon in youth communities around the world”.
Schnitzer added, “all of the venues exist but two, which will (be) temporary, and the full transportation and accommodations infrastructure is in place”.
Innsbruck and the State of Tyrol have invested more than $225 million (U.S.) in venue and transport upgrades directly related to the Games in the last eight years. Innsbruck has committed to building a new Olympic Village that will place all athletes within an average of 15 minutes of their competition venues and will be turned into “much needed” social housing.
Wallner said all three levels of government have provided all the guarantees required by the IOC”.
Innsbruck’s bid plan features two major venue clusters – Olympiaworld and the Seefeld Arena – within the two major venue zones. Seventy four per cent of the medal events will be staged in those two key venue clusters.
According to a press release the Culture and Education Programme, which features a high-level of athlete-generated media content, will be anchored in the Innsbruck Congress Centre, “a highly modern state-of-the-art conference facility less than three kilometres from the Youth Olympic Village”.
