Organisation

In October 2013, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach appointed Namibian sprinter and four-time Olympic silver medalist Frank Fredericks as Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games — Buenos Aires 2018.^[5] Fredericks was heading the six-person IOC Coordination Commission made up of several Olympians including Danka Bartekova, the youngest IOC Member and Young Ambassador from the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. This commission was completed by two other IOC members, China's Li Lingwei, winner of three World Badminton Championships, and Barry Maister, a member of New Zealand's hockey team that won the Olympic gold medals at 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal; and Adham Sharara, Canadian President of the International Table Tennis Federation, and Henry Nuñez, head of the National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica.^[6] Working along with them there was the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (BAYOGOC), that includes member of the Argentine Olympic Committee (AOC), the local government and the national government, and which CEO was Leandro Larrosa. The local organising committee involves young people in all levels of the organization; including an 'Athlete Commission' and a newly established 'Youth Commission' – a group of young consultants chosen by the AOC from local schools and universities – and the employees within BAYOGOC from junior to director level.^[7] The first Coordination Commission meeting took place in Buenos Aires on 27–28 September 2014.

During June 2015 a small delegation from Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (NYOGOC) visited Buenos Aires for a series of debriefing workshops and seminars to pass on their expertise focusing on strategic decisions to be made in the early stages such as legacy, the use of the YOG to impact youth and sport, and benefits of the YOG to engage communities. The CEOs of Singapore 2010, Lillehammer 2016 and Innsbruck 2012 also took part of these meetings that were presided over by Frank Fredericks.^[8]

Football player and Olympic gold medalist Lionel Messi, originally not from Buenos Aires but from Rosario, was named as an ambassador of the 2018 YOG in March 2014,^[9] and he delivered a video welcoming message for the young athletes to Buenos Aires during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.^[10] In December 2015, the four-time Olympic medalist Luciana Aymar was also named as an ambassador of Buenos Aires 2018.^[11] In July 2017, Olympic gold medalist Luis Scola was named ambassador of the 2018 YOG.^[12]

Joining the Olympic programme for the first time at Buenos Aires 2018 were BMX freestyle, kitesurfing, cross country running, beach handball, sport climbing, karate, breakdancing,^[13] and roller sports;^[14] and the event programme saw an increased gender balance.^[15] FIFA also decided to replace football with futsal at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics,^[16] while other sports such as skateboarding were being considered for the programme.^[17] Roller speed skating was added to the Olympic programme on 17 March 2017.^[18][14]

Three years before the event, a survey showed that public support had reached 82.3 per cent in favour of the Youth Olympic games in Buenos Aires. During the second visit of the International Olympic Committee's Coordination Commission to the city, on 13 and 14 August 2015, Mr. Fredericks highlighted the implementation of 13 of the recommendation of the Agenda 2020 by BAYOGOC.^[19]

Venues

Parque Polideportivo Roca

YOV

B.A.L.T.C.

Parque Tres de Febrero

Argentine Equestrian Club

Urban Park

Roca Park Stadium

Tecnópolis

CeNARD

Locations of the venues for the 2018 YOG within Buenos Aires: Green Park, Olympic Park, Urban Park, Techno Park

The original plan was based on the bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics, in which a 15 km long Olympic Corridor would have worked instead of a more concentrated Olympic Park.^[20] For the Buenos Aires bid for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics the Olympic Corridor was adapted into a Green Corridor, one of the two main sports zones as the primary sites of the Games in Buenos Aires 2018, being the other one Parque Roca, to the south of the city.^[21] The Green Corridor and the Olympic Corridor shared River Plate Stadium, Tiro Federal, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires, Parque Tres de Febrero, La Bombonera, La Rural and CeNARD as venues.

In order to group the sports in a more compact framework, in September 2014 a new four-clusters concept was revealed, dropping out venues such as La Rural.^[7][22] It was announced then that each cluster would include an area called YOG FEST where sporting experiences, family entertainment and cultural activities would take place. But at the 129th IOC Session, in August 2016, a new venues masterplan was presented, including two new stand-alone venues, adding La Rural once again and replacing Parque Sarmiento with Tecnópolis.

The International Olympic Committee members stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, located in the district of Retiro and close to Retiro railway station, one of the most important transportation hubs in Buenos Aires.

After numerous changes, in February 2018, the definitive venues plan was presented.^[23]

The Opening Ceremony was held at the Obelisco de Buenos Aires.^[24]

Torch Relay

Athens (Greece) - La Plata (Buenos Aires) - Parana (Entre Rios) - Santa Fe (Santa Fe) - Iguazu (Misiones) - Corrientes (Corrientes) - Jujuy (Jujuy) - Salta (Salta) - Tucuman (Tucuman) - Catamarca (Catamarca) - La Rioja (La Rioja) - Mendoza (Mendoza) - San Juan (San Juan) - Cordoba (Cordoba) - Neuquen (Neuquen) - Bariloche (Rio Negro) - Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego) - Buenos Aires (Federal Capital) (Argentina)

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics was held at the Obelisco de Buenos Aires on 6 October 2018 at 20:00 (8 PM) Argentina Time.

Sports

The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics featured 239 events in 32 sports. There were 12 mixed team events (Mixed-NOCs), 9 mixed team events (NOCs), 1 open event (Equestrian), 113 men's events, and 102 women's events.

Demonstration sports

These were the demonstration sports in the games:^[28][29]

• Karting (details)
• Polo (details)
• Squash (details)

Participating National Olympic Committees

• A total of 206 countries sent at least one athlete to compete in the Games.
• Kosovo and South Sudan made their Youth Olympics debut.
• It was the first participation of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) under its new name in any Olympic event.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee

More information IOC Code, Country ...

IOC Code	Country	Athletes
ARG	Argentina	141
FRA	France	99
MEX	Mexico	93
RUS	Russia	93
JPN	Japan	91
AUS	Australia	88
USA	United States	86
ESP	Spain	85
ITA	Italy	83
CHN	China	82
BRA	Brazil	79
HUN	Hungary	79
GER	Germany	75
CAN	Canada	72
RSA	South Africa	70
EGY	Egypt	68
TPE	Chinese Taipei	58
KAZ	Kazakhstan	58
THA	Thailand	57
TUR	Turkey	56
UKR	Ukraine	55
COL	Colombia	53
CZE	Czech Republic	53
VEN	Venezuela	53
IRI	Iran	49
IND	India	47
CHI	Chile	44
GBR	Great Britain	43
AUT	Austria	41
SUI	Switzerland	41
TUN	Tunisia	38
BLR	Belarus	37
UZB	Uzbekistan	37
CRO	Croatia	36
GRE	Greece	33
SVK	Slovakia	33
BEL	Belgium	32
ALG	Algeria	30
DOM	Dominican Republic	30
ECU	Ecuador	29
KOR	South Korea	28
URU	Uruguay	26
SLO	Slovenia	26
FIN	Finland	25
HKG	Hong Kong	25
MRI	Mauritius	25
BUL	Bulgaria	24
EST	Estonia	23
VAN	Vanuatu	21
MAS	Malaysia	20
MAR	Morocco	20
CUB	Cuba	19
ISR	Israel	19
KEN	Kenya	19
LAT	Latvia	19
BOL	Bolivia	18
SGP	Singapore	18
SWE	Sweden	18
AZE	Azerbaijan	17
CRC	Costa Rica	17
INA	Indonesia	17
IRL	Ireland	17
MDA	Moldova	17
CAM	Cambodia	16
SRB	Serbia	16
GEO	Georgia	15
IRQ	Iraq	15
LTU	Lithuania	15
ZIM	Zimbabwe	15
ZAM	Zambia	15
TTO	Trinidad and Tobago	14
ASA	American Samoa	13
BAN	Bangladesh	13
KGZ	Kyrgyzstan	13
SRI	Sri Lanka	13
VIE	Vietnam	13
DEN	Denmark	12
JAM	Jamaica	12
JOR	Jordan	12
TGA	Tonga	12
SOL	Solomon Islands	12
ETH	Ethiopia	11
MGL	Mongolia	11
NAM	Namibia	11
LUX	Luxembourg	10
TKM	Turkmenistan	10
ERI	Eritrea	9
GUA	Guatemala	9
ISL	Iceland	9
KSA	Saudi Arabia	9
AND	Andorra	8
ARM	Armenia	8
UAE	United Arab Emirates	8
ARU	Aruba	7
BAH	Bahamas	7
PHI	Philippines	7
BIH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6
MOZ	Mozambique	6
ALB	Albania	5
ANT	Antigua and Barbuda	5
BDI	Burundi	5
COD	Democratic Republic of the Congo	5
DJI	Djibouti	5
GAM	The Gambia	5
GHA	Ghana	5
KOS	Kosovo	5
MHL	Marshall Islands	5
UGA	Uganda	5
MKD	Macedonia	5
MON	Monaco	5
BRN	Bahrain	4
BAR	Barbados	4
BUR	Burkina Faso	4
DMA	Dominica	4
ESA	El Salvador	4
GAB	Gabon	4
GRN	Grenada	4
GUM	Guam	4
GUY	Guyana	4
HON	Honduras	4
LAO	Laos	4
MAD	Madagascar	4
MAW	Malawi	4
MLT	Malta	4
SMR	San Marino	4
STP	São Tomé and Príncipe	4
SEN	Senegal	4
SLE	Sierra Leone	4
TAN	Tanzania	4
TOG	Togo	4
ISV	Virgin Islands	4
AFG	Afghanistan	3
BEN	Benin	3
BER	Bermuda	3
BHU	Bhutan	3
BOT	Botswana	3
IVB	British Virgin Islands	3
BRU	Brunei	3
CAM	Cambodia	3
CPV	Cape Verde	3
CAY	Cayman Islands	3
COM	Comoros	3
GEQ	Equatorial Guinea	3
FIJ	Fiji	3
GUI	Guinea	3
HAI	Haiti	3
CIV	Ivory Coast	3
LBN	Lebanon	3
LIE	Liechtenstein	3
MDV	Maldives	3
MLI	Mali	3
FSM	Federated States of Micronesia	3
SEY	Seychelles	3
SYR	Syria	3
TJK	Tajikistan	3
YEM	Yemen	3
BIZ	Belize	2
CAF	Central African Republic	2
CHA	Chad	2
CGO	Republic of the Congo	2
TLS	East Timor	2
GBS	Guinea-Bissau	2
KIR	Kiribati	2
KUW	Kuwait	2
LES	Lesotho	2
LBR	Liberia	2
LBA	Libya	2
MTN	Mauritania	2
MNE	Montenegro	2
MYA	Myanmar	2
SOM	Somalia	2
SUD	Sudan	2
SSD	South Sudan	2
SUR	Suriname	2
SWZ	Eswatini	2
ANG	Angola	1
COK	Cook Islands	1
TUV	Tuvalu	1

Close

Schedule

The schedule for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games was released on 9 May 2018, exactly 150 days before the starting of the games on its official website.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics was held at the Youth Olympic Village on 18 October 2018. The Olympic flag was handed over to the next host city, Senegalese capital Dakar, for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics.

Doping

Supatchanin Khamhaeng of Thailand originally won the gold medal at the Girls' +63 kg Weightlifting event, but was disqualified in 2019 after testing positive for a banned substance.^[31]

Emblem

The official emblem of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics was presented in July 2015, three years before the games. The emblem reflects the diversity of Buenos Aires and it is inspired by the city's vibrant colours, eclectic culture, iconic architecture and the many neighbourhoods that make up the Argentine capital. Each letter represents a famous landmark, including the Floralis Genérica, Space Tower, the Columbus Theatre, the National Library and the Obelisk. A short video produced by the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (BAYOGOC) shows what each letter on the emblem relates to.^[32]

Slogan

The slogan of these Games,"Feel the Future", was unveiled on 8 April 2018.

Mascot

The Olympic mascot of these games was unveiled on 29 May 2018.^[33] The mascot is a young Jaguar, its name "Pandi" is a combination of the scientific name of the species (Panthera onca) and the relationship of the mascot with the "digital world".^[34] The president of the Buenos Aires 2018 Organising Committee, Gerardo Werthein, said that the mascot "seeks to inspire young people on the transformative power of Olympism and sport".^[35]

The mascot was created by the Argentine agency Human Full Agency with direction of Peta Rivero y Hornos. The animation short was made by the local production company Buda TV.^[33]

Official song

The official song of Buenos Aires 2018 is "Alive", performed by Candelaria Molfese and Fernando Dente. It was produced by Radio Disney. The name of the song in Spanish is "Vamos juntos" ("Let's go together"), which was also the name of the governing coalition for the 2017 legislative elections in Buenos Aires city.^[36]

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