The BOA’s mission in participating in Youth Olympic Festivals is a key component within our strategy to discover future Olympic champions, provide them with a multi-sport environment reminiscent of an Olympic Games and promote the Olympic ideals of fair play, honesty, and pride in representing and competing for Great Britain.
As such the Festivals strive to provide a true Olympic experience to young competitors and many Team GB Olympians have graduated from one of these Festivals to succeed at the Olympic Games, such as swimmer David Davies who attended the 2001 EYOF in Murcia, Spain and went on to win a bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and Silver in the 10km Open Water swim event in Beijing. It is hoped this trend will continue towards London 2012 and beyond.
Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF)
Based on the model of the hugely successful European Youth Olympic Festival, the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) is a bi-annual multi-sport for Olympic aspirants between the ages of 13 and 19. It is organised and hosted by the Australian Olympic Committee, and importantly has the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.
The last AYOF was held between 14-18 January 2009.
European Youth Olympic Festivals (EYOWF & EYOF)
The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF - previously called European Youth Olympic Days) was founded in 1990 by the European Olympic Committee as an initiative of current International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.
The EYOF has a separate winter and summer edition, both of which are held every two years.
Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games aim to bring together talented athletes – between the ages of 14 to 18 - from around the world to participate in high-level competition, and will also run, alongside the sports element of the event, educational programmes on the Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values sport can deliver, and the dangers of doping and of training to excess and/or of inactivity.
IOC website has also launched a dedicated section to the Youth Olympic Games. Known as ‘The Cube,’ this new section highlights the spirit and fun of the Youth Olympic Games and promotes youth projects worldwide. The interactive ‘Cube’ is packed with content on the first summer and winter Youth Olympic Games, Singapore 2010 and Innsbruck 2012. It also features videos, news and competitions and allows young people to engage and participate in Youth Olympic Games-related activities.
The first Summer Youth Olympic Games was held in Singapore in 2010 between 14-26 August and brought together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials The sports programme encompassed all the sports on the programme of the 2012 Summer Games, but with a limited number of disciplines and events. Click here to visit the official website.
The first Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held in 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria. Click here to visit the official website.