The pledge came as the six-person International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission, headed by Olympic sprinter and IOC member Frank Fredericks and made up of several Olympians including Danka Barteková - the youngest IOC member and Young Ambassador from the inaugural Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics, for the Games made its first visit the city.

The IOC Commission members said they have been "particularly impressed" by the goals set out by Buenos Aires 2018, which won the right to stage the event last July ahead of Glasgow and Colombian city Medellín. 

"Under the expert guidance of chief executive Leandro Larrosa, the organisers have really understood the true spirit of the Youth Olympic Games - to put young people at its heart," Fredericks said.

"Thanks to the close cooperation Buenos Aires 2018 has with the all levels of Government and the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA), the organisation has made impressive headway with strong foundation plans already underway.

"With its world-famous passion for sport and culture, we truly believe that Buenos Aires will deliver a phenomenal Youth Olympic Games."

Frank Fredericks heads up the IOC Coordination Commission for Buenos Aires 2018
©Getty Images


The Coordination Commission also visited the proposed four-clusters that make up the venue master plan over the course of the two-day meetings and heard about plans for a "festival-style" concept at each cluster for all spectators to experience.

Taking inspiration from the "Sports Lab" that featured at Nanjing 2014, these festivals will not only offer sporting experiences to the visitors, but will also provide family entertainment and cultural activities.

The IOC also said that three major development projects will get underway next year, including tenders out for the athletics and aquatic venues and the construction of the Youth Olympic Village, which will be situated in south Buenos Aires in an area targeted by the local Government in need of urban development.

Buenos Aires 2018, which now has 20 members of staff, expects that 65 per cent of the athletes will be able to walk to their competition venues from the Village, while the recently launched metro-bus link and other transport links are already in place to provide fast connections around the city and between venue clusters.

The Games will also feature a newly established Youth Commission - a group of young consultants chosen by the COA from local schools and universities - and an Athlete Commission.

Meanwhile, many of the 330 local sports clubs within Buenos Aires will be called upon to help with the organisation of the Games and to provide training facilities for athletes, while a nationwide engagement programme is already being rolled out to target 1.5 million young people to both identify talent and encourage participation in sports.

"This is a life changing project, not only for young athletes, but for future generations in Argentina and we are happy in the knowledge that the IOC Coordination Commission will be by our side to guide us throughout this exciting process," Larrosa said.

"There is a great social legacy we want to achieve with these Games, we want to get all our kids into sport and inspire kids around the world to do the same.

"These last few days working with the IOC has been a great learning curve and has energised the team to deliver our exciting project."

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