Asunción in Paraguay, Bangkok in Thailand and Santiago in Chile are being considered to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Wednesday following the organization’s Executive Board meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The three cities were accepted into the IOC’s targeted dialogue phase of the bid process after successfully completing the continuous dialogue stage where interested parties are vetted for suitability. Slovakia’s IOC member Danka Hrbeková is chair of the IOC’s Working Group on the Youth Olympic Games and said there was “strong interest in the 2030 edition from new regions of the world.”
The IOC does not disclose which parties involved in continuous dialogue, but interest had been expressed by Mongolia and Copenhagen in Denmark. Ahmedabad in India had also identified a possible 2030 Youth Olympics as a stepping stone to their 2036 Olympic Games bid but last month were awarded the Commonwealth Games to be staged in 2030.
Involvement in targeted dialogue by the so-called ‘preferred hosts’ does not guarantee that a bid will be on the final election ballot that is planned to be held next June. The bids will be further investigated and will submit a more detailed bid proposal over the next few months by responding to an IOC questionnaire. Before they can become a finalist, the bids must provide the IOC with signed guarantees to ensure funding, venue availability, security and visas.
One, two or all three bids could end up on the final ballot. Around 100 IOC members vote to confirm a single candidate, or to choose from among multiple options – usually at an IOC Session. With the 2026 Session occurring February in Milan ahead of the Winter Games, an extraordinary Session may need to be organized to hold a vote.
In July, new IOC president Kirsty Coventry hit pause on all bid processes and she assigned a working group to investigate a new path forward as part of her ‘fit for the future’ agenda. But with urgency in choosing a 2030 host with enough time to organize, the working group recommended the June election with the caveat that the host city must comply with any reforms created for the future of the Youth Olympic Games.
Coventry told reporters following the decision “We want to keep the Youth Olympic Games but we need to be very clear … on what we want the Games to be, how we want them produced and really look at reshaping them so they are fit for the future.”
An IOC statement read “all three [bids] can offer recent experience of hosting international events in multiple sports, 100 percent existing or temporary competition venues, full political support and a shared vision that the YOG can help to achieve a better and more active future for their country’s youth.”
“All three projects are aligned with local and national long-term plans for development, sports, education and health, to deliver a wide range of socio-economic community benefits.”
Santiago hosted the Pan American Games in 2023 and Asunción is scheduled to stage the same event in 2031 after holding the Junior edition this year. The Southeast Asian Games got underway in Thailand yesterday and run until December 20.
The next edition of the YOG is scheduled in Dakar, Senegal from October to November 2026 – the first Olympic event ever to be held in Africa.
The Youth Olympic Games debuted in 2010 in Singapore and has since been hosted by Nanjing, China and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dakar was elected to host in 2022 but the Games were pushed to 2026 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Games are typically staged every four years for athletes between 15 and 18 years of age. A Winter edition is also held each quadrennial two years after the Summer event.
Read the full IOC Feasibility Assessment for: Asunción, Paraguay; Bangkok, Thailand and Santiago, Chile
