Buenos Aires will host the third Youth Olympic Games in 2018. The International Olympic Committee chose the Argentine capital over other finalists Medellin, Colombia, and Glasgow, Scotland, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
“We had three excellent candidates from which to choose a host city today, each with the capability of staging memorable Youth Olympic Games in 2018,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said. “I would like to congratulate Buenos Aires and their bid team for their dedication to and enthusiasm for the Youth Olympic Games project. I have no doubt they will build on the successes of Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014 to provide a platform on which the best young athletes from around the world can compete and learn about the Olympic values.”
Buenos Aires won the final vote over Medellin 49-39. It also won the first round with 40 votes, more than Medellin’s 32 and Glasgow, which was eliminated with 13.
Buenos Aires will also host the IOC session in September when the 2020 Olympic host will be chosen among Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo and Rogge’s successor as IOC president will be named.
IOC members saw presentations from the three bid cities Wednesday and were set to hear 15-minute speeches from the six presidential candidates Thursday.