Over the last two weeks, the Youth Olympic Games took place in Buenos Aires. This was the third edition of the Youth Olympics, which are for athletes aged 14-18 and the brainchild of former IOC President Jacques Rogge. But questions over the event's relevance and lack of enthusiasm have led some to wonder whether or not the Youth Olympics have a place beyond the 2022 edition in Dakar (which wasn't even officially confirmed until they were already in Buenos Aires).
To be honest, I never quite understood the concept of the Youth Olympics in the first place. One of Rogge's initial reasons was getting youth involved in sport, but, as critics point out, the athletes in the Youth Olympics are already elite and on a path to the regular Olympics, so how much are you actually encouraging other young athletes to participate? And do those at or approaching world-class level really need another competition?
According to the IOC, the Youth Olympics also give cities and countries that might not be equipped to host an Olympics an opportunity to host an "Olympic" event. To an extent this is true. There are fewer athletes, fewer events and stricter cost-controlling factors designed to make the Youth Olympics cheaper. And they have brought the Olympic brand to new places (Singapore and Nanjing were the first two hosts). But Nanjing went so over-the-top that they were essentially hosting a mini-Olympics, which kinda goes against everything they preach.
One of the IOC's other favorite things about the Youth Olympics is that the program is different than the regular Olympics. Instead, they only have events that "appeal to a younger demographic." So, instead of 14 different rowing events, they have things like break dancing, which got extensive TV coverage during these Youth Olympics. They also featured some different disciplines in traditional Olympic sports (instead of soccer, they had futsal, the indoor version) and tried some new events within the existing Olympic program.
Some of these new events have worked. So well, in fact, that they've graduated to the regular Olympics. This includes some of the mixed events that the IOC loves (more on that in a minute), as well as things like 3x3 basketball, which has been the only type of basketball ever featured at the Youth Olympics and will make its debut at the regular Olympics in Tokyo. Whether or not 3x3 should be in the adult Olympics is a completely different question (the answer is "No").
About halfway through these Youth Olympics, something dawned on me. The IOC's new obsession is E "sports," which they're talking about including as a medal event as early as Paris 2024. But the Youth Olympics is the perfect place to try out E "sports" first. After all, if the whole purpose of adding video games is to appeal to the youth, wouldn't the youth-oriented competition make sense? If it works in Dakar, then maybe you consider moving it onto the Olympic program.
However, a vast majority of these different events at the Youth Olympics would never have a place in the regular Olympics. Break dancing, for example, will never be in the Olympics! Neither will the dunk contest (also a medal event in basketball). There are also a ton of mixed team events that aren't just mixed gender, they're mixed nationality. While that's a cool idea in theory, it would never work in the regular Olympics, where the entire point is competition between countries!
A lot of international federations hate these mixed team events, and not just because of the mixed-nationality element. They don't like them because of how forced they seem. The IOC's suddenly all about mixed team events, but some of them do feel like they're being added just for the sake of adding them. If they come about naturally (like mixed doubles tennis) that's one thing. But how many of these events are just throwing together people who never train together and will have just a few days of practice before an Olympic medal event?
Perhaps the biggest problem with the Youth Olympics, though, is that they include some sports that aren't on the Olympic program while practically ignoring others that are. Aquatics at the Youth Olympics only includes swimming & diving. No water polo, no synchronized swimming. Beach volleyball is included, while indoor volleyball isn't. Equestrian only featured jumping, while cycling consisted of BMX and a combined event. That's it.
There's also a limit on the number of athletes/teams a country can send. I get that in a certain respect. It's more inclusive and ensures greater universality. But it also effects the quality of the competition in certain events. And you get a distorted medal table because certain nations have larger or smaller teams than they otherwise would if qualification was more open.
This was really the first time that I paid any sort of attention to the Youth Olympics. I was willing to give them a chance, but I became incredibly turned off by them, for a number of reasons. And about halfway through, I started to wonder if people would really miss this event if it weren't around. (I know Argentina has reverse seasons, but the October thing didn't help matters, either.) I don't think I would.
The Youth Olympics were a noble idea. But are they necessary? Probably not. They're easy to get lost in the mix, and I don't know if they provide enough value to justify the cost. The IOC has enough problems. They don't need the Youth Olympics to give them any more headaches.
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