Three years out from the third Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG), UCI President Brian Cookson had meetings with the Organising Committee this week, including Gerardo Werthein, President of the Argentina Olympic Committee and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, Leandro Larrosa, YOG Chief Executive Officer and Gabriel Curuchet, Argentina’s National Cycling Federation (UCRA) President.
Mr Cookson and UCI World Cycling Centre Director Frédéric Magné travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to discuss the YOG’s cycling event with the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (BAYOGOC). The Organising Committee took the opportunity to explain their mission and vision for Buenos Aires 2018 and explained that they would like to use the cycling event as a platform to develop the sport in Argentina.
“The members of the Organising Committee are extremely motivated,” said Mr Cookson. “I was impressed by their clear vision and the planning that is already in place three years before the event."
The first two editions of the Summer Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore (2010) and Nanjing, China, (2014).
"I am convinced that the young athletes coming from the world over will live a truly unforgettable experience in Buenos Aires 2018.”
It is worth noting that in December 2014, the UCI and its World Cycling Centre (WCC) held a four-week training camp for junior road and track athletes as well as coaches in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The training camp was organised with the aim of helping Central and South American countries maximise their chances of qualifying for, and performing well at the next major cycling events organised in the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI) region: the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond (USA), the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio (Brazil) and the 2018 YOG in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
Following on from this camp held in Argentina, a similar talent identification and training camp for BMX will be held in Colombia later this year. The continent’s athletes are going from strength to strength, and 28 young athletes from the COPACI region have been invited to train at the WCC this year across track, road and BMX. Since January 2014, athletes from the Americas training at the WCC have come from 10 different countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.