About the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international, multi-sport event for young athletes aged 15-18 with an educative and cultural nature that aims to foster the Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence in youth.

Buenos Aires 2018 is the third edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games, after Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014. It will be held from October 6 -18 with the participation of almost four thousand athletes from 206 countries.

The YOG seeks to ensure a long-term future for the athletes by developing them and the community through the Olympic values, promoting sport as an educational tool.

New Zealand expects to send a team of up to 70 athletes. This would be a significant increase compared to the last edition in China where 50 athletes represented New Zealand, winning six medals.

Above: Sport climber Sarah Tetzlaff has been selected to the New Zealand team for Buenos Aires 2018

Eight athletes who competed for New Zealand at Nanjing 2014 took part in the recent Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where five of them won medals.

The Buenos Aires 2018 team Chef de Mission is three-time Olympic medallist Barbara Kendall.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) has participated in the YOG since its first edition as it considers the event provides experience at multisport games and constitutes a performance springboard to the world best competitions.

The NZOC wants to give exposure to an event fostering anti-doping, culture sharing, environmental and social responsibility as well as preparing young athletes for their future through injury prevention and career opportunity awareness.

Buenos Aires 2018 will feature 32 sports with a total of 240 events.

Four sports will be making their debut on the Olympic stage: Dance sports, Sports Climbing, Karate and Speed Skating. Squash and Polo have been added as showcase sports.

At this point New Zealand will be represented in approximately 25 sports. Three sports presents at Buenos Aires 2018 will go on to be contested for the first time at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (3x3 Basketball, Sports Climbing and Karate).

Buenos Aires will be the first time an Olympic event will have an equal number of male and female athletes. Plenty of events will be mixed to promote gender equality.
The 2018 YOG will be held in 4 parks located in different parts of the city. Each one of them will combine official sport competitions, sport initiations, and artistic, musical and educational activities.

The opening ceremony promises to be a highlight of the Games as it takes place in the world’s widest street where half a million of spectators are expected.