"Why Not Medellin?" Asks Colombia Sports Minister

(ATR) Andres Botero tells Around the Rings his home city of Medellin is ready to return the Youth Olympic Games to their appropriate size.

"I think what the IOC wants is they want to scale them down to where they should be," says the IOC member and Colombian sports minister.

"We don’t want to have Youth Olympic Games the same size as Summer Games in the future."

Botero, himself a member of the IOC Coordination Commission for the 2014 YOG, says Nanjing is going to be "huge" and that the IOC should "reconsider" for 2018.

"So that’s what Medellin is offering," he tells ATR, "to bring the Games down to that level where cities like us and countries like us can host. I think that’s the essence of the Youth Olympic Games."

With a metro population of 3.5 million, Medellin is bigger than Glasgow (2.85 million) but much smaller than Buenos Aires (12.8 million).

IOC members will pick among the three on July 4 in Lausanne following the first and final presentations from the bids.

"According to IOC requirements, we have only one chance," explains Botero, who says he expects the pitches to make a difference in the voting.

"Nobody has had a chance to visit the cities, especially Medellin," he says.

Chief among the themes of the presentation is sure to be Medellin’s makeover since the days of late drug lord Pablo Escobar.

"It’s another country," Botero tells ATR.

"People who went there 20 years ago, they come now and say they can’t believe this is Colombia. It’s a new Colombia."

In addition to "excellent presidents, excellent governors and mayors, and excellent armed forces," Botero also credits the role of sport in Medellin’s transformation.

"President Juan Manuel Santos keeps telling me to invest more money in sport and invest more money in youth," the sports minister says.

"We’re looking forward to using the Youth Olympic Games to keep on transforming the city as we have used sports to transform the city in the past."

Medellin, in particular, "vibrates through sports," he says, counting the most leagues and clubs of any city in Colombia as well as all the top coaches.

According to Botero, about 40 percent of Colombia’s athletes at London 2012 came from Medellin or the surrounding Antioquia state.

That includes BMX gold medalist Mariana Pajoy, who will star in next week’s presentation to the IOC.

"She’s an example for our youth," says Botero.

"We are very happy she will be coming with us to Lausanne. She’s from Medellin and lived through that process. When she was born is when the process started."

According to Botero, it’s no accident two of the three YOG bids come from the same continent.

"It’s the decade of South America," he says.

"Rio’s going to stage the Summer Games, Buenos Aires is going to stage the IOC Session, Lima had the Sport for All Conference," he lists.

"Why not Medellin, Colombia the Youth Olympic Games?

Written by Matthew Grayson with reporting from Ed Hula.

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