At the halfway point of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lausanne, Europe’s best young athletes are shining bright.

After six days of competition, 16 of the 20 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) whose athletes have already medalled are European, with the Russian Federation (15) and host Switzerland (13) topping the medal standings.

Lausanne 2020 President Virginie Faivre congratulated all the athletes who took part in the first half of the Games, with a second wave of athletes having now arrived to see out the two-week competition. The two-wave system was designed as a sustainability measure to keep costs down, while also allowing for almost 40 percent more athletes to participate compared to previous winter YOGs.

“We are at the midpoint of the Games and the first wave of athletes gave us extraordinary, fantastic performances,” Faivre said. “All the venues have been full to the brim with spectators cheering on the athletes in a very fair-play way and we are very happy with what Lausanne 2020 has accomplished so far.”

Some European NOCs are participating at the YOG for the first time – namely Albania, Azerbaijan, and Kosovo – while others (Georgia, Israel, Poland, Spain) have made history by winning their first winter YOG or Olympic medals.

The Georgian couple of Alina Butaeva and Luka Berulava clinched a historic bronze in figure skating and Israeli skier Noa Szollos won a silver and a bronze, the first Olympic winter medals for both countries.

Biathlete Marcin Zawol, meanwhile, won the first ever YOG gold for Poland. Spain also got into the act, with Costa Diez Maria and Ferrer Martinez Ot winning the country’s first winter YOG gold and bronze respectively in ski mountaineering and speed skater Llop Izquierdo Nil adding silver.

Many European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) medallists are also excelling at Lausanne 2020. After collecting medals at the winter EYOF Sarajevo and East Sarajevo 2019, biathlete Mathieu Garcia (FRA) won a gold and bronze in Lausanne, while alpine skiers Caitlin McFarlane (FRA) and Amanda Salzgeber (AUT) proved themselves at the global level as well, bringing home a silver and bronze, respectively.

Christophe Dubi, the Olympic Games Executive Director at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said all the athletes were receiving an extra boost from the large and vocal crowds at each venue. “I have never seen this before,” he said of the atmosphere surrounding the Games. “I am a Lausannoise, I was born here. To have such enthusiasm here has been extraordinary … so we are not changing anything at this stage, it’s been just fabulous.”

He added that things are going so well in Lausanne that the organisers of the upcoming Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games are taking notes on how to recreate many of the initiatives at their own Games in 2026.

The first half of the YOG was filled with great news from European athletes as the ‘old continent’ proves it is oozing with young talent. And with plenty of competition days still ahead, more headlines featuring our best young athletes are sure to be on their way.

In total, 1,273 athletes from 48 European NOCs are participating at Lausanne 2020. Europe has so far collected 73 medals (25 gold, 25 silver, 23 bronze).

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