Saint Petersburg, Russia – The City of Lausanne Switzerland is actively considering a bid to host the third Youth Olympic Winter Games in 2020, and is conducting a feasibility study while in discussions with the Swiss national Olympic Committee. City officials are here in Saint Petersburg, Russia this week for a gathering of world sport leaders at the SportAccord Convention.
The Olympic Capital, Lausanne’s unofficial moniker because it is the home of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters and many international sport federations, believes there is a great fit for the Games in the city.
“Our city has been the close witness of the development of the Olympic values for 100 years,” Marc Vuilleumier, Lausanne’s Municipal Councillor in charge of sports said.
“We believe that promoting these values to sporting youth of the world directly in the heart of the Olympic Movement is a very strong idea.
“We would be a proud partner to the IOC in realising this dream.”
The Youth Olympic Games, a concept created by IOC President Jacques Rogge, were launched in 2010 with the summer edition hosted by Singapore followed by the inaugural Youth Winter Games in Innsbruck in 2012.
What would make a Lausanne bid important for the IOC is that Lillehammer, Norway was awarded the 2016 Winter Games when no other candidates stepped forward.
Pascal Broulis, State Councillor in charge of finance, said “It would be great project for our State, for the entire region and for Switzerland.”
“We will use all our energy to promote this bid, because this is a smart event of reasonable size, but which also enjoys positive recognition worldwide”.
Early plans are to host all sports in a compact three cluster concept, with alpine skiing disciplines in the Alps and Nordic skiing in the Jura region. Lausanne would be the home of all ice sports, the Olympic Village and the Cultural and Education programme.
The IOC will likely elect the 2020 host in 2015. The 2018 Youth Olympic Games will be awarded in July at a special meeting in Lausanne. Buenos Aires, Medellin and Glasgow are in the running.
