2012 Youth Olympic Games
January 10-24, 2012
Innsbruk, Austria
Dear Athletes and Coaches,
The inaugural Youth Winter Olympic Games will be held January 13-22, 2012 in
Innsbruk, Austria. This is a new event, and as the title indicates, it’s a big deal. This
is a REAL OLYMPICS for Youth athletes (age eligibility described below), and will
include virtually all the winter sports that are included in the “regular” Olympic
Games. This event will be fully funded by the US Olympic Committee and the USBA.
The U.S. Biathlon Team will be allowed to bring 2 female and 2 male biathletes.
Athletes must be US Citizens born between January 1, 1994 and Dec 31, 1995.
There will be 4 events for biathlon:
- 6km/7.5km Sprint
- 7.5km/10km Pursuit
- Mixed Relay (2 women and 2 men)
- Combined Biathlon and XC Relay (2 biathletes, 2 xc skiers)
The qualification process for US biathletes wanting to represent the United States at
the Youth Olympic Games will begin this winter season, 2010-2011. The
International Competition Committee has not yet approved criteria, but they will be
available in the next month. Criteria will be emailed out to coaches and will be
posted on the USBA website as soon as they are available.
Because the names for team selection must be submitted to the International
Olympic Committee by early December 2011, we will most likely need to use results
from major Biathlon races during the 2010-2011 season. Athletes and coaches
need to keep this in mind when planning the winter race schedule. Though our
criteria are not yet complete, this letter is a “heads up” regarding the importance of
racing at the Jr/Youth World Team Trials, Dec 28-30, 2010 in Jericho, Vermont and
the US National Championships, March 17-20, 2011 at Mt Itasca, Minnesota.
The International Competition Committee will work to complete its work on the
Youth Olympic Games qualifying criteria by the middle of November. The inaugural
Youth Summer Olympic Games were held this summer in Singapore. From all
reports it was a resounding success. The host city website is not yet up, but here’s a
link for some more basic information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Winter_Youth_Olympics