Buenos Aires Awarded 2018 Youth Olympic Games
July 4, 2013
Buenos Aires will host the 2018 version of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), beating rival bidders Glasgow and Medellin.
All three cities made their final presentations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, with Buenos Aires was considered to be the underdog out of the three cities.
The Argentinian capital had looked as if it had slipped behind Glasgow and Medellin in the race to host the YOG when the IOC said they were concerned over ‘the funding and related guarantees underpinning’ their bid.
However, the organisers of Buenos Aires 2018 have convinced the Olympic Family that they are the right city to host the YOG and they defeated Medellin in the final round of votes with 49 to 39.
Glasgow was eliminated in the first round of voting after only receiving 13 votes. Buenos Aires received 40 and Medellin earned 32.
The Buenos Aires 2018 bid is considered to be a possible platform to hosting the Summer Olympic Games in the future.
Glasgow Bid Director has admitted that the city is too small to host an Olympic Games and Medellin are still developing on the international stage, but Buenos Aires have already seen four bids for the main event knocked back.
The city attempted to host the 1936, 1957, 1968 and 2004 Summer Games, but ultimately lost out to Berlin, Melbourne, Mexico City and Athens respectively.
Glasgow ‘undoubtedly disappointed’
The organisers of Glasgow 2018 produced an impressive presentation and were backed by major figures such as IOC Vice-President and Head of the Evaluation Commission, Sir Craig Reedie and Lord Sebastian Coe.
However the Scottish city was eliminated in the first round of voting, a disappointment to Paul Bush, Glasgow 2018’s Bid Director, who had previously told iSportconnect that the YOG would be ‘our Olympic Games’ and ‘the icing on the cake’ for the city.
Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Bush said after the voting: “We are undoubtedly disappointed but also pragmatic that we put across an extremely good case.
“I think on the Olympic stage people now know about Glasgow and Scotland which is really important for us.”
Sir Craig said the timing was ‘too close to London (2012)’ and Sir Chris Hoy, Glasgow 2018 ambassador said they were ‘shocked and surprised’ by their first round elimination.
However, Bush did not believe the London 2012 Olympics or 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games affected their bid, highlighting that Glasgow 2018 would have been ‘four or six years away’ from the two events.
Bush also refused to say that victory for Buenos Aires was a surprise and added: “I think going in to this any one of the cities could have won.
“I don’t there is a surprise at all, it was a very closely run contest, the relationships between the three cities has always been professional and congratulations to Buenos Aires again.”
A blow to Medellin
The news will be a blow to Medellin 2018, who were hoping to use the YOG as further proof that the Colombian city had moved on from its violent past.
Medellin used to be branded the most dangerous city in the world but has gone through a dramatic change since tackling the city’s drug and gang issues of the 1980s – a change the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos described as a ‘miracle’ during their presentation.
More reaction to follow…
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