Australia's future Olympians ready for action

Today marks the 50 day countdown to the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF), a chance to see Australia’s future Olympians compete in an international multi-sport event.

The AYOF, to be held from 16 – 20 January, is the sixth edition of the prestigious event, with the first taking place in 2001 as a legacy of the Sydney Olympics.

The Festival has proven to be a breeding ground for success, with more than 150 young Australian athletes going on to compete at an Olympic Games.

At the London 2012 Olympics, 106 athletes - over one quarter of the Australian Team - were alumni of the AYOF. Between them they won 19 medals – three gold, eight silver and eight bronze.

Anna Meares, Sally Pearson and Cate Campbell – the three gold medallists – were all stand-out achievers at their respective Youth Festivals and were earmarked to achieve greatness at an Olympic level. They are joined by other big names such as Emma Snowsill, Eamon Sullivan, Jessica Fox and Matthew Mitcham.

Fox, who won silver in the canoe slalom in London, is Australia’s first athlete to compete and win medals at an AYOF, Youth Olympic Games and Olympic Games – and all in the space of three years.

"It was pretty exciting," 18-year-old Fox said of her 2009 AYOF experience. "It was good fun. There was an opening ceremony, we stayed in a village, there was the excitement of the race and the nerves. It definitely prepared us well.

"For me, I had an idea of what was going to happen at the Youth Olympic Games. The AYOF set us up well for that."

As Fox and the many other successful Olympians have proven, the AYOF is a pathway to the Olympic Games for aspiring athletes and to provide other young athletes with a rare Olympic experience.

The AYOF is a unique experience that provides young athletes from all over the world the opportunity to compete in Olympic venues, under Olympic conditions and to learn the Olympic values of fair play, sportsmanship, respect for teammates and opponents, friendship, national pride, honesty and humility.

"The AYOF prepares and nurtures athletes who are bound for the elite ranks," AOC President John Coates said.

"At the start of the new year, we will once again have the chance to see hundreds of athletes competing at the highest level in their sports and among them will no doubt be the stars of the Rio 2016 Games and beyond. It is a very exciting prospect and I encourage everyone to watch as the five days of elite competition take place in our own backyard."

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