 Emblem of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics | |
| Location | Gangwon Province, South Korea |
|---|---|
| Motto | Grow Together, Shine Forever[1] (Korean:함께할 때 빛나는 우리,Hamkkehal Ttae Bichnaneun Uli) |
| Nations | 78 |
| Athletes | 1,803 |
| Events | 81 events in 7 sports (15 disciplines) |
| Opening | 19 January 2024 |
| Closing | 1 February 2024 |
| Opened by | |
| Closed by | |
| Cauldron | Lee Jeong-min |
| Stadium | Gangneung Oval andYongpyong Dome (opening ceremony) Gangwon Olympic Stage (closing ceremony) |
Winter Summer | |
The2024 Winter Youth Olympics (Korean: 2024년 동계 청소년 올림픽), officially known as theIV Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly known asGangwon 2024 (강원 2024), were awintermulti-sport event, cultural festival, and fourth edition of theWinter Youth Olympics held between 19 January and 1 February 2024 inGangwon Province, South Korea.
That was the third time South Korea hosted the Olympic Games, after the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul and the2018 Winter Olympics inPyeongchang, and the second time the country hosted the Winter games, after the2018 Olympics. It was also the first Winter Youth Olympics held in Asia, as well as the third overall Youth Olympic Games in the continent, after the2010 Olympics inSingapore and the2014 Olympics inNanjing,China (all Summer Games). It was also the final Youth Olympic Games under theIOC presidency ofThomas Bach.
The IOC's Future Host Commission named Gangwon as its preferred candidate for the Games and entered into targeted dialogue with the region under the new Olympic bid process.Brașov,Romania;Granada,Spain; andSofia,Bulgaria were the other interested parties. They took part in the continuous dialogue with the IOC and the Future Host Commission.[2] Gangwon was officially awarded the Games at the 135th IOC Session inLausanne,Switzerland, on 10 January 2020;[3] all of the requirements were fulfilled to the satisfaction of the commission and the executive board.[4] The events will be shared betweenGangneung andPyeongchang County, which previously hosted the2018 Winter Olympics. They were the first Winter Youth Olympics held outside of Europe.
| Party | Nation | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Gangwon |  South Korea | 79 |
| None of bid | 2 | |
| Absentation | 1 | |
| Total | 82 | |
Much of thevenues of the 2018 Winter Olympics were used again; the snow events were held in the county ofPyeongchang, while the ice events were held inGangneung.
If the circumstances were allowed, which they weren't, the city ofWonsan,North Korea would have been involved, and could have been the host of some alpine events.[5][6]
TheAlpensia Sports Park inDaegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang, was the main focus of the games, like in 2018.
Additionally, a stand-alone venue was located inHoengseong:
Another stand-alone outdoor sports venue was located in neighboringJeongseon County:
TheGangneung Olympic Park, in the neighborhood ofGyo-dong in Gangneung hosted the four indoor sports venues and the closing ceremony. This complex hosts the indoor venues build for the2018 Winter Olympics and was used again:
For the first time in the history of any type of Olympic Games event, the gender parity rule was used. This means that the same number of events in the Olympic program were the same for men and women (34). The program for this edition featured 7 sports and 15 disciplines in a total of 81 events. The International Olympic Committee had decided in 2021, that for the first time, there would be no mixed NOCs events. The sporting program also received changes as mixed-gender relays were added in cross-country skiing and Nordic combined. Two 1,500m individual events in short-track speed skating were held for the first time. However, the number of events at the cross-country skiing were dropped from 7 to 5.[8][9]
Alpine skiing(9) (details)
Biathlon(6) (details)
Bobsleigh(2) (details)
Cross-country skiing(5) (details)
Curling(2) (details)
Figure skating(5) (details)
Freestyle skiing(12) (details)
Ice hockey(4) (details)
Luge(5) (details)
Nordic combined(3) (details)
Short track speed skating(7) (details)
Skeleton(2) (details)
Ski jumping(3) (details)
Snowboarding(9) (details)
Speed skating(7) (details)A total of 1,803 athletes from a total of 78 NOCs were expected to compete.[10][11] Five nations made theirWinter Youth Olympics debut: Algeria, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, with the latter two making their first ever Winter Olympic appearance.[12] Albania was scheduled to be the 79th NOC to compete, but its only athlete withdrew from the competition.
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | EG | Exhibition Gala | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January/February | 19 Fri | 20 Sat | 21 Sun | 22 Mon | 23 Tue | 24 Wed | 25 Thu | 26 Fri | 27 Sat | 28 Sun | 29 Mon | 30 Tue | 31 Wed | 1 Thu | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||||||||
 Alpine skiing | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||||||
 Biathlon | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
 Bobsleigh | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
 Cross-country skiing | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||||
 Curling | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | |
 Figure skating | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 Freestyle skiing | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |||||||
 Ice hockey | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 4 | |||
 Luge | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||||
 Nordic combined | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
 Short track speed skating | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||
 Skeleton | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
 Ski jumping | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
 Snowboarding | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ● | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||||||
 Speed skating | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Total events | 0 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 81 |
| Cumulative total | 0 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 37 | 43 | 51 | 55 | 57 | 61 | 67 | 71 | 76 | 81 | 81 |
| January/February | 19 Fri | 20 Sat | 21 Sun | 22 Mon | 23 Tue | 24 Wed | 25 Thu | 26 Fri | 27 Sat | 28 Sun | 29 Mon | 30 Tue | 31 Wed | 1 Thu | Events |
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games took place on 19 January 2024 at theGangneung Oval in Gangneung, and theYongpyong Dome in Pyeongchang. This was the first time since the2020 Winter Youth Olympics, to allow worldwide spectators following the end of theCOVID-19 pandemic.K-pop groupsHori7on,Lun8, andTripleS performed at the ceremony, along with rappersAsh Island,Hwasa, andChangmo. The cauldron was lit by freestyle skier Lee Jeong-min. A secondary digital flame was lit in Gangneung Olympic Park by a volunteer.[14][15]
The closing ceremony of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games took place on the evening of 1 February 2024 outside of theGangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung. RapperLee Young-ji performed at the ceremony. The ceremony ended with the digital flame being extinguished.[16]
* Host nation (South Korea)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy | 11 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| 2 |  France | 10 | 5 | 6 | 21 |
| 3 |  Germany | 9 | 5 | 6 | 20 |
| 4 | South Korea* | 7 | 6 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 |  China | 6 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 |  United States | 5 | 11 | 5 | 21 |
| 7 |  Austria | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
| 8 |  Sweden | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 9 |  Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 10 |  Japan | 3 | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| 11–32 | Remaining | 20 | 27 | 36 | 83 |
| Totals (32 entries) | 84 | 81 | 81 | 246 | |
The organizing committee has announced many "ambassadors" to promote the games, including OlympiansEileen Gu,Choi Min-jeong, andYuna Kim, in addition to singers such asChoi Min-ho from the South Korean boy bandShinee.[17][18]
The official song of the games is titled "We Go High".[19][20]
| Moongcho (뭉초) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mascot of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon) | |
| Creator | Soo-Yeon Park |
| Significance | Asnowball |
On 19 January 2023, the organizing committee revealed the mascot, named Moongcho (뭉초). It was designed by college student Soo-Yeon Park. The mascot is in shape of asnowball that was born from a snow fight betweenSoohorang and Bandabi, the mascots of the2018 Winter Olympics andParalympics.[21][22]
The organizing committee has announced that all events apart from the opening ceremony would be free to watch.[23]
The torch relay started on October 3, 2023 in Greece at thePanathenaic Stadium, where the flame was lit. The flame reachedSeoul, South Korea, on 8 October, with the South Korean leg of the relay beginning that day.[24][25] The relay ended on 19 January 2024 at the opening ceremony, as the cauldron was lit by freestyle skier Lee Jeong-min.[14]
Algeria, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates will all make their Winter Youth Olympic debut.
| Preceded by | WinterYouth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 | Succeeded by |
| Summer Games | |
|---|---|
| Winter Games | |
