Speaking exclusively to insidethegames, Baumann, who is also secretary general of the International Basketball Federation, believes it is time for Lausanne to demonstrate "that we can also do sport, not simply produce paper", as the city bids to host the third edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020.

Lausanne is the "home of the Olympic Movement" as such, encompassing the headquarters of the IOC, as well as a huge range of international sports federations.

The city is in a two-horse race to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, with Romanian city Brașov its only competitor.

Both cities submitted their bid applications by the November deadline, with the IOC due to select the host on May 23, 2015.

Following the submission, Baumann has claimed he is "very confident and very relaxed because, contrary to some other parts in our country we are fortunate to have a very strong, solid supporting base for these Games".

With Lausanne being at the centre of the Olympic Movement, Baumann believes this will be of benefit to the city's bid as, although it does not "imply that there is a right for Lausanne to have it", it does mean the bid team is "giving something to our fellow members in International Federations who have to host events in the winter sports there and to the IOC members who come to Lausanne".

He added: "We are giving them an environment that they know.

"And so I think that's the benefit.

"Our IOC members know what they're going to get.

"They know the quality that we have, the standards in organisation that we can have.

"That's not diminishing anything that Brașov has to offer, which is also nice and in correspondence to a very good idea for the Youth Olympic Games, so it's going to be a very good competition.

"But being in Lausanne we have 50 organisations in the Olympic family that are around the area, and there's a wealth of expertise and know-how and history that we can put at the disposable of the Olympic Movement and the IOC to drive the next century of innovation for the Youth Olympic Games."

Patrick Baumann has said he is "very relaxed and very confident" after submitting Lausanne's bid for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games ©Lausanne 2020


In fitting with the IOC's vision for the Youth Olympic Games, which partly looks at using existing facilities to host events in order to keep costs at a minimum and give smaller nations or cities the opportunity to host, Baumann claimed Lausanne already has many choices of venue to choose from, with the bid team making the choice to "basically match what the population is already using itself".

"If you live in Lausanne, if you want to do biathlon you go there," he added, pointing to a spot in the distance.

"You don't worry about borders or geographical borders you just go there because it's nearby.

"If you want to do skiing you go to that [the skiing] mountain and it's extremely natural for us to do that.

"We grew up there, we did that there.

"So we're not building anything specifically new except where there is a need."

This "where there is need" includes a new ice rink, being built because there "is a very strong ice hockey family" in Lausanne, although Baumann insists the facility is already an ongoing project.

The only other "real construction" needed will be an Olympic Village, Baumann added.

The university in Lausanne currently has no onsite accommodation, however, lodgings are in the early stages of development.

This ongoing development, and that of the ice rink, is highly convenient for the Lausanne 2020 bid team as "the Winter Youth Olympic Games just fits perfectly with the timing of that project".

Finally, asked what Lausanne can bring to the Olympic Movement, and the Youth Olympic Games, Baumann concluded: "I think that if you bring this innovation, education and the competition side that is already there, and the sports passion that the city and the region has anyhow, then we are bringing a unique combination that probably very few cities in the world can combine."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2014: Lausanne gets full political backing for 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games bid
November 2013: Brașov and Lausanne confirmed as bidders for 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games
September 2013: Lausanne announced as official Swiss Candidate for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
August 2013: Lausanne officially put forward as potential 2020 Winter Youth Olympic candidate
July 2013: Swiss President Maurer "very excited" about Youth Olympic bid as Lausanne launches official application