Olympic movement goes digital to engage under-18s 

The Olympic Congress held in Copenhagen drew a total of 66 recommendations  from more than 1,700 contributions submitted over the past two years by sports stakeholders. The contributions were submitted via the Virtual Olympic Congress , an online forum which coordinated a consultation  on five themes: the athletes, the Olympic Games, the structure of the movement, Olympics and youth and the digital revolution (EurActiv 16/01/08).

A 'digital taskforce', including the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other stakeholders, was one idea recommended by the Congress to optimise the use of new technologies in disseminating the Olympic values and vision. 

Furthermore, the Congress adviced strengthening partnerships with the computer game industry in order "to explore opportunities to encourage physical activity and the practice and understanding of sport among the diverse population of computer game users".

According to the Congress, the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are also seen as an unmissable opportunity to inform international sports federations and other stakeholders of educational and cultural programmes to inspire youth. The first-ever Olympics for young people aged 15-18 will take place in the summer of 2010 in Singapore, followed by the first Winter Games in Innsbruck in 2012 (EurActiv 12/12/08).

The initiative aims to educate and inspire young athletes to become ambassadors for Olympic values in their communities and encourage their peers to play sport. They will be organised every four years according to the traditional timeframe of the adult Games. 

The Congress also highlighted the problem of physical inactivity and called for action to address it, especially among young people. Delegates asked for closer cooperation between governments and sports organisations, and said governments should build more sporting facilities and offer more time for sport in schools, "at all ages and at all levels". 

New sports enter 2016 Summer Games

The IOC also announced last week that golf and rugby would be included in the programme of the 2016 Summer Games, to be hosted by Rio de Janeiro. The two sports were recommended for inclusion in the programme by the IOC executive board (EB) in August. Five other sports had sought the same status - baseball, karate, roller sports, softball and squash (EurActiv 26/08/09, 23/06/09).