Lausanne Latest: 2018 YOG Showdown

2018 YOG Showdown

Sebastian Coe tells Around the Rings a Glasgow vote for the 2018 Youth Olympics would help the IOC to establish the brand internationally.

The Scottish city is competing against Buenos Aires and Colombia’s Medellin for hosting rights. The IOC vote follows 30-minute presentations at the Beaulieu convention center in Lausanne.

Coe believes Glasgow ticks all the boxes for the IOC, a city which can build on the legacy of London 2012 and call upon its experience of project managing the 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as a host of major sporting events.

"It just needs to enter its teenage years having been nurtured and carefully looked after and I think Glasgow can do that and is in a position to take it globally," he told ATR in Lausanne.

The London 2012 chairman said the YOG was still at a stage "where it has to fight for air in a very cluttered sporting landscape".

With the Russia World Cup being held the same year as the summer YOG after Nanjing, Coe said the media reach of the U.K. to promote a Glasgow Youth Games was a vital component for the IOC to consider.

The YOG 2018 presentations are open to the media, unlike the 2020 candidate cities briefings to IOC members Wednesday.

IOC vice president Craig Reedie and Chris Hoy, Britain’s greatest Olympian with six gold medals to his name in track cycling, are pushing for Glasgow in the Swiss Olympic capital.

Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos has made the trip to underline how much his country wants the YOG. He will lead the Medellin presentation to the IOC.

Argentina’s sports minister Claudio Morresi is the biggest name taking the stage for Buenos Aires.

A report by the 2018 YOG evaluation commission follows the three presentations before the vote and announcement by IOC president Jacques Rogge on the host city, expected just before 16:00CET.

Presidential Candidates Take a Turn

The six IOC presidential candidates will follow on the heels of the YOG vote with first-ever campaign speeches as the final order of business for this extraordinary IOC Session.

For 15 minutes, each will get to speak to the nearly 90 IOC members in attendance, powerpoint permitted but no videos. There will be no questioning of the candidates. None will be allowed in the hall until time to speak.

Order of appearance, determined by a draw: Richard Carrion, Ser Miang Ng, Thomas Bach, C.K. Wu, Denis Oswald and Sergey Bubka.

Carrion tells ATR it’s a big moment for him and his colleagues.

"It is an honor be a member, and an honor to be a candidate. This is a great moment for the Olympic Movement -- and a big moment. We will be selecting a president for the next eight years, possibly 12. I am very much looking forward to sharing my vision for the future, and how we can meet the challenges before us as a movement ."

The vote for a president to succeed Jacques Rogge takes place Sep. 10 at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

2020 Bids Host IOC

A day after they presented their technical plans for the Games, the three 2020 bid cities met informally Thursday morning with IOC members at exhibit space in the Palace Hotel.

Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo each have a room equipped with high-tech presentation devices to give members an up close look at bid plans.

The rooms were open to IOC visitors for two-and-a-half hours followed by an hour for the press.

Written and reported in Lausanne by Ed Hula and Mark Bissson

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