2012 Winter Youth Olympics
The 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games (German: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2012), officially known as the I Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in Innsbruck, Austria, on 13–22 January 2012. They were the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics, a major sports and cultural festival celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games. Approximately 1100 athletes from 70 countries competed. The decision for Innsbruck to host the Games was announced on 12 December 2008 after mail voting by 105 International Olympic Committee (IOC) members. Innsbruck is the first city to host three winter Olympic events, having previously hosted the 1964 Winter Olympics and the 1976 Winter Olympics.[2]
Organization edit
Host city election edit
All four applicant cities were kept as candidate cities by the IOC in August 2008. Swedish skier Pernilla Wiberg was the Evaluation Chair for the commission to score the applicant cities.[3] In November 2008, two cities (Harbin and Lillehammer) were cut from the list, leaving both Kuopio and Innsbruck in the running.[4] On 12 December, the final vote was revealed to be 84 votes to 15, with Innsbruck winning the hosting rights.[5]
Infrastructure and budget edit
All venues that will be used for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics were existing (besides the athlete's village) when Innsbruck was awarded the games in 2008. Innsbruck thus proposed a budget of $22.5 million USDs to host and stage the games.[6] The athlete's village will cost roughly $121 million to build.[7]
Marketing edit
Marketing for the games included sponsor BMW painting cars with the Innsbruck 2012 logo and information to spread awareness across Austria.
Sponsors edit
There are twelve official worldwide partners of the International Olympic Committee such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola, which have been designated as "World Olympic Partners" by the organizing committee for the event.[8] The organizing committee also designated fifteen companies as official sponsors and suppliers of which include BMW and Raiffeisen Zentralbank among others.[9] About 60% of the costs associated with the games are expected to be covered by sponsorship by the various companies.[6]
| Worldwide Olympic Partners | |
|---|---|
| National Premium Partners | |
| Official Sponsors | |
| Official Suppliers |
Mascot edit
| Yoggl | |
|---|---|
| Mascot of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics (Innsbruck) | |
| Creator | Florencia Demaría and Luis Andrés Abbiati |
| Significance | An anthropomorphic chamois |
The official mascot of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics is an anthropomorphic chamois named Yoggl (pronounced YOG). The name is a compound of "Joggl", the Tyrolean nickname for Jakob, and YOG, the acronym of the Youth Olympic Games. He represents respect for nature, the lifestyles and geography of the host country, modernity, youth, and athleticism. The mascot was designed by Florencia Demaría and Luis Andrés Abbiati of Argentina.[11]
Venues edit
All of the venues are located at venue clusters in two major zones in Innsbruck and Seefeld, Olympiaworld Innsbruck and Seefeld Arena. All venues are existing with the exception of the curling and biathlon venues, which will be temporary.[12]
| Venue | Location | Sports | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bergiselschanze | Innsbruck | Opening ceremony | 28,000 |
| Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck | Innsbruck | Bobsleigh Luge Skeleton | 1,500 |
| Seefeld Nordic | Seefeld | Biathlon Cross-country skiing Nordic combined Ski jumping | 2,500 |
| Eisschnellaufbahn | Innsbruck | Speed skating | 2,900 |
| Kühtai | Innsbruck | Freestyle skiing Snowboarding | 1,000 |
| Tyrolean Ice Arena | Innsbruck | Ice hockey | 3,130 |
| Olympiahalle | Innsbruck | Figure skating Short track speed skating | 10,000 |
| Patscherkofel | Innsbruck | Alpine skiing | N/A |
| Innsbruck Exhibition Centre | Innsbruck | Curling | 1,000 |
| Maria-Theresa Street | Innsbruck | Medals Plaza Closing Ceremonies | - |
Torch relay edit
The torch relay of the Games was announced on 9 October 2011, involving 65 sites over 18 days with some 2,012 torchbearers carrying the flame. The torch was lit on 17 December 2011 in Athens, Greece by the first torchbearer Carlos Pecharromán from Spain and the relay began in Innsbruck on 27 December 2011 and ended with the opening ceremony in Bergiselschanze on 13 January 2012. It is the first time the Olympic flame had gone to the same city three times as Innsbruck was also the host of the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976.[13][14][15]
Below is the list of route locations:[16]
- 27 December: Innsbruck, Neustift im Stubaital, Sölden, Ischgl
- 28 December: Jerzens, Bregenz, Lustenau, Klaus, Bludenz
- 29 December: Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Matrei, Lienz, Dellach
- 30 December: Millstatt, Klagenfurt, Wolfsberg, Murau
- 31 December: Kapfenberg, Semmering, Wiener Neudorf
- 1 January: Vienna, Mönichkirchen
- 2 January: Bad Waltersdorf, Fürstenfeld
- 3 January: Graz, Gleisdorf, Oberpullendorf
- 4 January: Eisenstadt, Schwechat, Vösendorf, Sankt Pölten
- 5 January: Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Purgstall, Linz, Wels
- 6 January: Hinterstoder, Gmunden, Mondsee, Neumarkt am Wallersee, Salzburg, Hallein
- 7 January: Wals, Strobl, Gosau, Filzmoos
- 8 January: Ramsau, Niederoblarn, Haus
- 9 January: Schladming, Sankt Johann im Pongau, Maria Alm
- 10 January: Kirchberg, Bad Gastein, Zell am See
- 11 January: Seefeld, Kühtai, Fugen
- 12 January: Sankt Ulrich am Pillersee, Ehrwald, Telfs, Zirl
- 13 January: Kufstein, Axams, Mutters, Fulpmes, Lans
The Games edit
Opening ceremony edit
The opening ceremony of the games took place on 13 January 2012, at 6:30 pm CET (5:30 UTC, 13 January) at Bergiselschanze.[17] Roughly 15,000 people packed the snow-filled stadium to watch the ceremony, where for the first time three cauldrons were lit (instead of the normal 1) to commemorate the previous two Winter Olympics Innsbruck has hosted (1964 and 1976). Heinz Fischer, the President of Austria declared the games open.[18]
Closing ceremony edit
The Closing ceremony took place on 22 January. IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that the first Winter Youth Olympic Games were "ten glorious days" and that the games "exceeded all expectations and laid solid foundations for future Youth Olympic Games".[19]
Participating nations edit
In accordance with IOC guidelines, only youths aged between 14 and 19 years were able to participate in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. Unlike the Olympic Games, the youth athletes taking part in the YOG will be expected to stay in the host city throughout the Games to take part in an integrated sport and culture and education programme (CEP). The qualification criteria for participation in the Games differs by sport, and are determined by the NOCs and international sports federations.[20]
| Participating National Olympic Committees |
|---|
|
Sports edit
The YOG featured 63 medal events over 7 sports and 15 disciplines. 63 events, there will be 3 mixed team events (Mixed-NOCs), 8 mixed team events (NOCs), 27 men's events, and 25 women's events.[12]
- Alpine skiing (9) ()
- Biathlon (5) ()
- Bobsleigh (2) ()
- Cross-country skiing (4) ()
- Curling (2) ()
- Figure skating (5) ()
- Freestyle skiing (4) ()
- Ice hockey (4) ()
- Luge (4) ()
- Nordic combined (1) ()
- Short track speed skating (5) ()
- Skeleton (2) ()
- Ski jumping (3) ()
- Snowboarding (4) ()
- Speed skating (8) ()
Calendar edit
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | EG | Exhibition Gala | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January | 13 Fri | 14 Sat | 15 Sun | 16 Mon | 17 Tue | 18 Wed | 19 Thu | 20 Fri | 21 Sat | 22 Sun | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||||
| Alpine skiing | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Biathlon | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||
| Bobsleigh | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Cross-country skiing | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Curling | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | ||
| Figure skating | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | 1 | EG | 5 | ||||
| Freestyle skiing | ● | 2 | ● | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| Ice hockey | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | ● | ● | 2 | 4 |
| Luge | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||
| Mixed sports | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Nordic combined | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Short track speed skating | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||
| Skeleton | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Ski jumping | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Snowboarding | ● | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||
| Speed skating | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||||||
| Total events | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 63 | |
| Cumulative total | 6 | 16 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 46 | 49 | 58 | 63 | ||
| January | 13 Fri | 14 Sat | 15 Sun | 16 Mon | 17 Tue | 18 Wed | 19 Thu | 20 Fri | 21 Sat | 22 Sun | Events |
Medal table edit
The top ten listed National Olympic Committees (NOCs) by number of gold medals are listed below with the host nation, Austria, being highlighted. A competition was announced in early 2011 to design the medals that were awarded at the games.[21]
Medals won by teams of athletes from more than one NOC are included in the table as medals awarded to a mixed-NOCs team. There were three events which composed entirely of mixed-NOCs teams, and as such all nine medals in these events, were swept by mixed-NOCs teams.
* Host nation (Austria)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 8 | 7 | 2 | 17 |
| 2 | China | 7 | 4 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | Austria* | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | South Korea | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Russia | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| – | Mixed-NOCs | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Japan | 2 | 5 | 9 | 16 |
| 9 | Norway | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 10 | United States | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 11–30 | Remaining | 15 | 24 | 21 | 60 |
| Totals (30 entries) | 63 | 63 | 63 | 189 | |
References edit
- ^ Participating Nations[dead link]
- ^ Snowboard Club UK (SCUK). . Snowboardclub.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ^ "IOC Appoints 2012 Youth Games Evaluation Chair". GamesBids. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "Innsbruck and Kuopio Make Final Shortlist For 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games". GamesBids. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "Innsbruck to host 1st winter Youth Olympic Games". 12 December 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ a b "1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012 Report of the Evaluation Commission" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. November 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ . Around the Rings. 4 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "Worldwide Olympic Partners". Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "National Sponsors & Suppliers". Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ . www.innsbruck2012.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "The official YOG mascot's name is Yoggl". Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ a b "2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games Sports & Sports Venues" (PDF). Innsbruck 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Gold, David (9 October 2011). "Innsbruck 2012 announce Youth Olympic Torch relay route". inside the games. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ Gold, David (17 December 2011). "History made in Athens as Innsbruck 2012 flame is lit". inside the games. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ Gold, David (27 December 2011). "Youth Olympic Torch passes through Innsbruck". inside the games. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Details on the Youth Olympic Torch Relay". Innsbruck2012.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Information on the Opening Ceremony of the 1st Winter Youth Olympics Games". Innsbruck2012.com. 13 January 2011.
- ^ "Snow covered Innsbruck welcomes inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games with charming Opening Ceremony". Insidethegames.biz. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ^ . Gamesbids.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ^ Innsbruck 2012. "Sport Events And Eligibility Requirements". Innsbruck2012.com. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ . Gamesbids.com. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
External links edit
- Official website
- Youth Olympic Games official web site