Lausanne, 2nd December – the Romanian city that hosted this year’s excellent Winter European Youth Olympic Festival and the Olympic Capital have both submitted applications to host the 3rd Winter YOG in six years’ time, within the 28th November deadline – as announced by the IOC.

Thus, for the first time the event will be hosted by a city that has never organized Winter Olympic Games , which was instead the case for Innsbruck, who hosted them in 2012, and Lillehammer, who will host the winter YOG in 2016.Innsbruck indeed hosted both the 1964 and 1976 Olympic Winter Games, while Lillehammer held the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

In its press release, the IOC say that approximately 1,000 athletes take part in the Winter YOG, which last a maximum of 10 days and are held at a time of year that best suits the sporting calendar and climate of the host region. YOG hosts are encouraged, wherever possible, to use existing venues to stage the Games.

By 12th December 2013, Brasov and Lausanne will need to submit signed 2020 YOG Candidature Procedures, and then their YOG Candidature File and other documents by 17th June 2014.The final election of the Host City for the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020 will take place July 2015.