1st Winter
Youth Olympic Games 13-22 January

Press Releases

  • Innsbruck 2012’s commitment to sustainability


    For the implementation of their many projects, the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games relied on the high quality and know-how offered by local non-profit associations and companies with a social mission.

  • Innsbruck 2012 joins forces with Kilgray for inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games


    As part of the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games, which took place in Innsbruck, Seefeld and Kühtai from 13 to 22 January 2012, the Language Services department of the Organising Committee chose the latest version of Kilgray’s memoQ translation memory software to handle the large translation workload before, during and after the Games. Ease-of-use, flexibility and reliability were among the key factors behind the decision to work with the growing software developer based in Hungary.

  • Documentary about the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games


    The 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games, which took place in Innsbruck, Seefeld and Kühtai between 13 and 22 January 2012, wrote history. A total of 1059 athletes from 70 nations were on hand to witness Innsbruck welcome the Olympic Family for the third time. To celebrate the event, the Austrian state broadcaster ORF has produced a documentary about the Games which will be shown on television on Saturday, 11 February 2012 from 14:25 to 15:50 (ORF 1) and on Wednesday 22 from 20:15 to 21.45 (ORF SPORT+).

  • India crowned winner of the YOG World Mile Video Contest


    The Culture & Education Programme of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games saw local school classes from across Tyrol given the challenge of presenting the countries participating in the Games in a creative and interactive way. A total of 56 nations were showcased using stands measuring just 12m² as part of the YOG World Mile in Congress Innsbruck, with young camera teams from Innsbruck Media College on hand to record the presentations and activities in short video clips.

  • Energy-saving competition at Innsbruck 2012


    Together with the local power and water provider, Innsbruck 2012 organized an energy-saving competition between 13 and 22 January for all of the athletes living in the Youth Olympic Village. The competition was held between the 375 apartments in the complex, each home to 3 to 6 persons, with the inhabitants of the apartment using the least energy per person per square metre during the Games winning a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone.

  • Prince Albert II of Monaco proud to present medals at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games


    On Sunday January 22, the first ever Youth Olympic Games medals for Two-Man Bobsleigh were presented by Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco and IOC Member. The medallists were: gold for Patrick Baumgartner and Alessandro Grande (ITA), silver for Benjamin Maier and Robert Ofensberger (AUT) and bronze for Rudy Rinaldy and Jeremy Torre (MON).

  • Jacques Rogge: “These were ten glorious days!”


    IOC President praises Organising Committee of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games.

  • Quality from Vorarlberg & Bavaria


    Music is like groceries: high-quality food does not need to come from afar; top-class produce is often found right on your doorstep – or that of your neighbours – as the band Golden Reef (from Vorarlberg) and the Blumentopf crew (from Bavaria) proved this on Saturday. After Aura Dione had to cancel her performance due to illness, the two groups stepped in and gave the fans at Medals Plaza a great finale.

  • 256 school pupils as cool as ice on the Olympic Speed Skating Oval


    Today’s School Sports Challenge took place on the Olympic Ice Skating Oval in Olymiaworld Innsbruck. Despite the cold temperatures and a blustery wind, a total of 256 pupils from 11 school classes across Tyrol provided a fantastic atmosphere as they cheered the competitors with home-made posters and banners.

  • Being part of Innsbruck 2012 with Global Sports Development


    Thanks to Global Sports Development (GSD), a small group of pupils from across the world were given the opportunity to be part of the Winter Youth Olympic Games. In order to be in with a chance of being selected to attend the Games, pupils had to answer the question “What does sport mean to you?” in the most creative way possible using a collage. These collages were then posted on the Innsbruck 2012 Facebook fanpage, with the creators of the 15 designs receiving the most ‘Likes’ winning a trip to Innsbruck 2012.

  • “You look at others and say ‘wow’ that’s a great pin.”


    Bud Kling has followed the Olympic Games since the late 1950s, and has become an expert in an Olympic sport that doesn’t come with a medal or coaches: pin trading. The American is one of three official pin traders at the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Winter Olympic Games. He first discovered trading when he watched TV coverage of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games. Several busses had broken down and about 20 people were standing in the middle of the snow, waiting to get to their venues. The people were trading pins and even after the busses came and went, five or six people would stay behind to continue trading.

  • Cheerleading and Figure Skating provide great atmosphere at penultimate day of School Sport Challenge


    On the final day of the School Sports Challenge and the penultimate day of the Winter Youth Olympic Games, 26 girls aged 11 to 13 from the Reithmann Secondary Grammar School in Innsbruck eagerly awaited their chance to perform. After the Medal Ceremony for Figure Skating and Short Track Speed Skating had come to a close, it was finally time for them to take to the ice and show off the choreography they had been working on for months with qualified figure-skating coach Theresa Katzlinger.

  • Gold medal number six for host nation Austria!


    The cancellation of the Ski Cross final in Kühtai due to heavy snow and strong winds saw the winner of qualifying, Michaela Heider, claim Austria's fourth sixth medal of the Games.

  • Scandinavian nostalgia lights up Innsbruck


    Kaizers Orchestra, a Norwegian band inspired by everything from Tom Waits to gypsy and punk rock, took to the stage on Medals Plaza on Friday for the penultimate Samsung Music Festival evening concert. Known for creating mind-blowing rock using ‘instruments’ as diverse as oil barrels and crowbars in their performances, the six-man ensemble certainly didn’t disappoint their fans in Innsbruck as they kept with Medals Plaza rocking to the sound of Norwegian lyrics right up until 22:00.

  • "You decide your future!"


    Friday night’s Meet the Role Model session was the penultimate chance for the athletes participating in Innsbruck 2012 to chat with their sporting idols. On the stage in Congress Innsbruck were retired Swiss ski jumper Andreas Küttel and American ice-hockey star Angela Ruggiero for a session focusing on the topic of mental preparation.

  • Pupils from Absam sports school impressed by the atmosphere at Patscherkofel


    On Friday the Women’s Slalom took place at Patscherkofel. Among the crowd were 50 students from Absam sports school.

  • Angelic voices fill the heart of Innsbruck as the Wilten Boys’ Choir perform on Medals Plaza


    Founded in the 13th century, the Wilten Boys’ Choir is today one of the most renowned boys’ choirs in Europe. The ensemble, which shares common roots with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and has a repertoire including everything from hymns and operas to traditional Alpine songs, comprises a total of 160 boys divided into a number of individual choirs.

  • Sliding duo talk of their need for speed


    The German-language session for Meet the Role Model in Congress Innsbruck on Friday evening saw two elite athletes from the world of sliding sport, German luger Alexander Resch and Swiss bobsleigh driver Ivo Rüegg, chat with a group of youngsters attending the Innsbruck 2012 Games and answer their questions about life as a professional sportsman. As the session revealed, the two have taken very different paths on their way to the top.

  • "Never stop trying new things!"


    Last night saw a star-studded panel comprising Canadian ice hockey coach Melody Davidso, Russia’s Vitaly Petrov, former star athlete Jennifer Botterill (ice hockey) and Sergey Bubka (pole vault) gather in Congress Innsbruck for a question and answer session in front of a packed audience. Even IOC President Jacques Rogge dropped by and listened intently as the role models and coaches shared their top tips.

  • We will rock you! Band Night at Congress Innsbruck


    After a long day of competition, the Athletes’ Lounge at the Culture & Education Programme is the perfect place to meet up, relax and celebrate with new friends. With many of the sporting events now over, the workshops and activities on offer as part of Innsbruck 2012 are the perfect way to enjoy the Games from a different perspective. After all, there’s more to life than just sport!

Media Guidebook

DownloadMedia Guidebook - pdf, 8,2 MB

Here is the Media Guidebook of the IYOGOC (Innsbruck Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee). It contains information regarding the 1 st Winter Youth Olympic Games:

  • About Innsbruck 2012 and Olympic Games
  • Competition and Culture & Education Programme (CEP) schedule
  • Culture & Education Programme (CEP) Information
  • Important facts for media representatives
  • Transport