Not that many of you were paying attention, but the second edition of the Youth Olympics just finished up in Nanjing, China. I don't blame you for this. I haven't really gotten on board with the Youth Olympics either. I give the IOC credit for trying, and it was only the second edition to there's still plenty of room to grow, but they've got a lot of work ahead of them if they want the Youth Olympics to ever come anywhere close to the regular Olympics. In any regard.
The Youth Olympics were the brainchild of former IOC President Jacques Rogge. He noticed that the Olympics were losing their appeal among young people, and he saw a Youth edition of the Games as a way to keep them involved in sports, and the Olympic Movement in particular. That was in 2007. The first Youth Olympics were held three years later in Singapore to little fanfare, followed by the first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012. (That's going to be the cycle moving forward...same year as the regular Olympics, but the opposite season.)
I get the whole idea behind it, and it's not a terrible concept. Except I think this little pet project may end up costing the IOC millions of dollars. In fact, if not for the IOC backing and the Olympic brand attached to it, I bet the Youth Olympics would probably be in a pretty dire financial situation. But, since the IOC is committed to the Youth Olympics, and is smartly requiring its Olympic broadcasters to also broadcast the Youth Olympics, whether they want to or not. That's why NBC and NBCSN had an hour or two of nightly coverage from Nanjing. Because of this, I think the Youth Olympics still have some time to grow.
But there are still a number of problems that the Youth Olympics will need to tackle head-on to avoid irrelevance. For starters, the sporting calendar, especially in Winter Olympic years, is already incredibly crowded. This year's two biggest events, of course, were the Sochi Olympics in February and the World Cup in June-July. But there was also the Commonwealth Games, the Basketball World Cup (which is moving off the same cycle as the soccer World Cup after this year), the World Junior Track & Field Championships (which feature many of the same athletes that compete at the Youth Olympics), and a whole slew of other international events that I didn't mention. There's going to be a point of oversaturation (if we're not there already), and the Youth Olympics seem unlikely to displace any of these others in the pecking order.
Then there's the name. They've got to do something about the name. The "Youth" Olympics? What does that mean? It's for athletes between the ages of 14 and 18. Athletes that are called "juniors" in many, if not all, of the sports in which they compete. Of course, "Junior Olympics" is already taken, so that would've been a) confusing and b) met with trademark complications, but the "Youth Olympics" tag is equally confusing to the general viewing public. Plus, there's no vested interest in watching any of these athletes. They aren't famous yet. And some of them never will be. You can't draw on their star power to get people to watch.
Don't get me wrong, though, there are some things about the Youth Olympics that I like. For one, a city like Singapore or Nanjing or Buenos Aires (which is the next host in 2018) probably couldn't host a whole-scale Olympics. Hosting the Youth Olympics is perfect for these smaller cities and countries. In fact, among the rules are that you can't build any new venues and all venues must be within the city limits. As a result, the costs of hosting are considerably lower.
One of the IOC's favorite things about the Youth Olympics is that they're able to play around with the sports program, putting in different types of events that you wouldn't see in the regular Olympics. Case in point--the basketball tournament is a 3-on-3 halfcourt game. There's also a dunk contest (men) and three-point shootout (women), which both count as medal events. Or track & field, which had this crazy 8x100 meter relay with teams chosen at random from all the athletes in the competition. The winning team featured a German shot putter and a distance runner from Cameroon that finished last in his heat.
If there's anything that can be considered a "legacy" in the young life of the Youth Olympics, it's probably events like the 8x100 meter relay. While the Olympics includes very few mixed gender events, the Youth Olympics is full of them. The Youth Olympics also has mixed team events, which are some of the most fun. And these mixed team events are unique to the Youth Olympics. They can't be featured in the regular Olympics.
Likewise, the IOC is using the Youth Olympics as a testing ground for events and disciplines that might one day be featured on the Olympic program. That's perhaps the most positive thing about them. Try these events out at the Youth Olympics, see if they work, then maybe work them into the Olympic program. Reviewing the program within each sport is one of current IOC President Thomas Bach's ideas on how to keep the Games fresh while maintaining the sport and athlete limits. And if these newer events are going to draw in a younger TV audience, so much the better.
There are also sports that get exhibition status at the Youth Olympics. This is great for the hopefuls that want to join the Olympics at some point, but haven't been able to break in. This is their chance to showcase why they belong (or think they do). And again, appealing to young people is a very big priority for the IOC.
Lastly, there are the athletes. For many of them, the Youth Olympics are the biggest stage they'll ever compete on. Beyond that, they get to represent their country and meet other athletes from all over the world. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And for some, it's just the beginning. There's only been two editions of the Youth Olympics, but they've already been a springboard to Olympic stardom. South African swimmer Chad le Clos won Youth Olympic gold in Singapore in 2010, then famously beat Michael Phelps for gold in London two years later. Lithuania's Ruta Meliutyte also won gold in London...and she's still young enough to compete in the Youth Olympics, so she showed up in Nanjing and added some Youth Olympic gold.
Nobody's ever going to confuse the Youth Olympics with the Olympics themselves. The IOC doesn't want them to. The Youth Olympics are designed to be unique. I'm hoping they can find their niche in the crowded international sports scene. As long as they understand what they are and don't get ahead of themselves. People aren't going to get all excited and drop everything for the Youth Olympics. People won't make it a point to watch like they do the regular Olympics. And that's OK.
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