Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi has said Lausanne 2020 provided an opportunity to educate and empower young people, as the one-year anniversary of the Winter Youth Olympic Games was marked.

 

Competition took place from January 9 to 22 and attracted more than 1,800 young athletes from around the world.

Lausanne 2020 said a total of 640,000 people attended events, including sports competitions and the "Lausanne en Jeux!" festival which accompanied the Games.

Organisers also claim the Games were watched by an estimated audience of more than 150 million people worldwide.

Lausanne 2020 was broadcast in 191 territories by 73 rights holders, who transmitted almost 2,700 hours of linear coverage.

It was one of few sporting events held in 2020 which were unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dubi said the Games offered opportunities for young athletes, as well as local people and students in Lausanne who took up roles to support the Youth Olympics.

"Lausanne 2020 was created for the youth, by the youth and with the youth," said Dubi.

"It offered an opportunity to educate and empower young people and let a new generation of athletes and supporters put the Olympic values into action.

"Lausanne 2020 was only a year ago, but the pandemic has changed the world dramatically since then.

"The Olympic values - excellence, respect, and friendship - however, remain unchanged and are even more relevant today.

"As we approach the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, those values teach us to overcome our differences and difficulties, and work together towards common goals, because together we are stronger."

Lausanne 2020 featured 81 events in eight sports and 16 disciplines.

The Games were held across eight sites, largely in the canton of Vaud.

The Swiss towns of Champéry and St Moritz also hosted competition, as well as neighbouring France.

Organisers last year projected an operating surplus of CHF400,000 (£340,000/$422,000/€377,000) from the Games.

Philippe Leuba, Councillor of State responsible for the Canton of Vaud’s Department for Economic Development, Innovation and Sport, claimed the Games renewed Swiss people’s enthusiasm with the Olympic Movement.

"The Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 created a rich and diverse legacy for our region and its people," Leuba said.

"Besides accelerating essential regional investment, with new infrastructure designed for sustainable use - in line with the spirit of Lausanne 2020 - the Youth Olympic Games renewed Swiss people’s commitment to the values of the Olympic Movement.

"With their immense popular success, the Youth Olympic Games brought together the whole region, including in the French Jura, around the ambition of these Games, creating new social cohesion."

Gangwon in South Korea is due to host the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games - the next Youth Olympics, following the Summer Games in Senegalese capital Dakar being postponed from 2022 to 2026.

Source: https://www.insidethegames.biz