Innsbruck. “The first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games have exceeded all expectations and laid solid foundations for future Youth Olympic Games. We owe a debt of gratitude to the organisers and the many volunteers,” declared Jacques Rogge at the press conference held in Congress Innsbruck on Sunday afternoon, before going on to repeat these words during the Closing Ceremony on Medals Plaza.

The numbers speak for themselves. A total of around 100,000 spectators created an excellent atmosphere at the competition venues, with TV channels from 70 countries showing daily highlights of the Games. Innsbruck welcomed no fewer than 900 media representatives, who produced over 11,000 articles. The official website www.innsbruck2012.com was accessed 4.7 million times.

“We are proud to have kept our word,” smiled Richard Rubatscher, chairman of the Innsbruck 2012 Supervisory Board. “We wanted to be a good, friendly host. I think we have achieved that. Innsbruck, Tyrol and Austria have shown themselves at their best,” commented Peter Bayer, Chief Executive Officer of the Organising Committee.

The proof that the 70 delegations felt at home in Innsbruck was the fact that most of the Chefs de Mission Meetings scheduled to take place every morning were, in fact, cancelled as there were no issues to discuss and everything was running smoothly. “The feedback we have received from our guests has been incredible. They have all given us top marks. That is something we can rightly be proud of,” explained Bayer.

“These were ten glorious days,” summarised IOC President Jacques Rogge, almost euphoric. “Thank you Innsbruck. See you in Lillehammer in 2016.”