February 24, 2008 – Here is the latest news from the IOC, including the announcement that Singapore will host the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. In addition, the update includes information on the return of the World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture to Asia.

Singapore to host first edition of the Youth Olympic Games in 2010

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that Singapore will host the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The result was unveiled by the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Singapore beat Moscow in the final by 53 votes to 44.

The 105 IOC members entitled to vote(1) had cast their votes by post over the last few weeks. The sealed envelope with the name of the winning city was delivered to the IOC President during the announcement ceremony by the independent and certified notary who oversaw the process to guarantee confidentiality.

“This is a key moment for the Olympic Movement”, said Rogge to the journalists present in Lausanne. “Singapore has put together a very exciting project. Hosting the Youth Olympic Games for the first time is a great responsibility, and I have every confidence in the team in Singapore. I have no doubt that their professionalism and enthusiasm will be instrumental in the staging of successful Youth Olympic Games in 2010″, he continued.

“The Youth Olympic Games are the flagship of the IOC’s determination to reach out to young people. These Games will not only be about competition. They will also be the platform through which youngsters will learn about the Olympic values and the benefits of sport, and will share their experiences with other communities around the globe. We are looking forward to joining in the celebration in Singapore in 2010″, Rogge added.

The IOC President thanked Moscow for its excellent efforts and the quality of its candidature. He also hoped that today’s disappointment would not discourage it from bidding again.

Rogge also paid tribute to the other seven Candidate Cities which took part in a candidature process that started in August 2007: Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Debrecen (Hungary), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Moscow (Russian Federation), Poznan (Poland), Singapore (Singapore) and Turin (Italy).

(1) Out of the 110 current IOC members, 105 were entitled to vote. In addition to the IOC President, the members from the countries of the finalist Cities did not vote – V. Smirnov, S. Tarpischev and A. Popov (Russian Federation) and S.M. Ng (Singapore).

About the Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games aim to bring together talented athletes — age group 14 to 18 – from around the world to participate in high-level competitions, 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.

The first Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore will bring together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials The sports programme will encompass all the sports on the programme of the 2012 Summer Games, but with a limited number of disciplines and events.


World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture Back in Asia

This year, the entire world will look towards Asia with the celebration of the first ever Olympic Games in the People’s Republic of China. The Beijing Games will be a unique opportunity to bring Olympic education and values to the youth of China and the Asian continent. This link between sport, culture and education will be more than ever on the Olympic Movement’s agenda in 2008. Thus, one month after the Beijing Games, the 6th World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture will be held in Busan (Korea) from 25 to 27 September. The organisation of the Forum was the main topic discussed this morning at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne by the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, and a delegation from Busan led by its Mayor, Nam-Sik Hur.

This is the second time in a row that the Forum is being organised in Asia, the previous edition being held in October 2006 in Beijing in partnership with the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games (BOCOG) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Five objectives for the 2008 Forum

The objectives of the 6th Forum will include:
1. Communicating and reviewing the culture and education work undertaken by the Olympic Movement;
2. Evaluating the implementation of the recommendations of the 5th World Forum and charting the way forward, setting out orientations for sport, culture and education for the next two years;
3. Consolidating existing relationships and building new partnerships between the sports community and culture and education experts and institutions;
4. Examining and proposing contributions that culture and education through sport can make to the 2009 Olympic Congress, the Youth Olympic Games and more generally to the international community’s culture and education efforts.
5. Reviewing long-term plans for the IOC’s Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP).

Bringing together various stakeholders

The Forum will bring together representatives of governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with sport, education and culture, the United Nations system, universities and the Olympic family, in particular National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, Olympic Games Organising Committees, recognised sports organisations and Olympic sponsors. Culture, education and youth organisations as well as media groups are also invited.

In parallel with the TAFISA World Sport for All Games

This Forum will overlap with the 4th Busan TAFISA World Sport For All Games, which will bring together from 26 September to 2 October more than 10,000 participants from 100 countries. In this connection, a Memorandum of Understanding between the IOC, the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Games Organising Committee (T-GOC) was signed in October 2007 by IOC President Jacques Rogge, the KOC President, Jung-Kil Kim and the Chairman of the T-GOC, also Mayor of Busan, Nam-Sik Hur. The Forum participants will thus have the chance to visit and enjoy the World Sport For All Games.

How to participate

Further details on the Forum and registration forms will be published on www.olympic.org in April 2008.