Construction of Youth Olympic Centre on track

With just a little more than seven months before the start of the Youth Olympic Games, the construction of the Youth Olympic Centre, the heart of Buenos Aires 2018, is progressing as scheduled.

The Youth Olympic Centre, which is being built in the neighbourhood of Villa Soldati with funds from the municipal government of Buenos Aires, will be the site of 14 of the 31 sports on the competition programme. Multiculturalism and gender equality will be two of the key themes for cultural and educational activities that the Organising Committee will hold on the grounds.

The park consists of six large structures. Some of them are now complete, while others are in the final stages of construction.

Once the Games have finished, the Youth Olympic Centre will become a world class, high performance sports training centre for Argentine athletes, becoming one of the large tangible legacies of Buenos Aires 2018.

Four venues are already ready: the Europa Pavilion, which will be home to weightlifting and karate; the Asia Pavilion, the future site of judo and wrestling; the Oceania Pavilion, where young athletes will compete in boxing and taekwondo; and lastly, the Africa Pavilion, which will hold fencing, as well as the fencing component of the modern pentathlon.

Each of these four settings are approximately 3,000 m², and each pavilion required a workforce of 200 people during the construction process which began in February of 2017. In addition, each venue is equipped with air conditioning and four athlete changerooms with a total of 40 showers.

One of the facilities that is in its final stage of construction is the America Pavilion, which will host the 156 athletes competing in gymnastics and its four disciplines: artistic, rhythmic, trampoline and acrobatic.

With an area of around 4,000 m², the venue for the best young gymnasts on the planet to show off their skills was started in April of last year and is expected to be finished in just a few weeks. It will also have air conditioning, but unlike the other four pavilions this one will have an additional four changerooms – eight in total.

The aquatics centre is always a big attraction at any Olympic Games. It’s the place where the fastest men and women in water delight fans of the discipline. And, at the Youth Olympic Centre a high-level venue is currently underway.

The construction of the site for swimming and diving at the third summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games is in its final stage. The two pools are expected to be complete by April.

The stadium, which will be the most modern aquatics centre in Argentina, follows the most appropriate parameters in terms of sport legacy for the country and was approved by the FINA during a technical visit that took place this week.

The competition format during the Games will adhere to the model used in other youth tournaments such as the 2011 World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima.

All the sport facilities at the Youth Olympic Centre were designed with approval by the International Sport Federations.

Like the other park venues, the aquatics centre will have air conditioning for all its approximately 4,000 m².

In addition to the progress of the pavilions and the aquatics centre, the two athletics tracks and the two hockey fields are also under construction according to schedule.

Furthermore, as part of the legacy that the park will have for the future of Argentine sport, two 3x3 basketball courts, two beach volleyball courts, and two beach handball courts are being built ahead of the Games.

Regarding spectator capacity at the Youth Olympic stadiums, the stands in each venue will be temporary structures. This highly efficient system allows for the number of seats in the facility to be adjusted according to the needs of each competition.

The construction of the Youth Olympic Village, located beside the Youth Olympic Centre, is in its final stages of completion. It will be home to the 3,998 athletes from 206 countries. During the Games, it will house around 7,000 people, including technical officials and delegations.