Croatian team arrives at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
(Photo: HOO)
LAUSANNE, 8 January 2020 – Athletes have started to arrive in Switzerland as last minute preparations take place ahead of the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.
1,872 athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 will compete in 81 medal events across Switzerland and France from 9 – 22 January.
79 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will attend Lausanne 2020 between the 9th and 22nd of January, 12 of them will be participating for the first time at a Winter Youth Olympic Games. Albania, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Haiti, Hong Kong (China), Kosovo, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Trinidad & Tobago.
The 10 largest delegations will be: Switzerland (112), Russian Federation (107), United States of America (96), Germany (96), Canada (81), Czech Republic (77), Japan (74), Italy (69), Austria (64), France (61).
The 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games will also see an increased program with 5 new events being introduced including, Women’s Nordic Combined, (Individual Normal Hill/4km), Women’s Double Luge, Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3×3 Tournament, Freeski Big Air and Snowboard Big Air.
One new sport will also make its debut in Lausanne. Ski Mountaineering in the Swiss town of Villars-sur-Ollon will provide 5 new events to the Winter Youth Olympic calendar. Girl and Boy’s Individual, Girl and Boy’s Sprint and Mixed NOC Relay.
Lausanne 2020 gets underway on the evening of the 9th of January with the lighting of the Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in the city of Lausanne.
Athletes were welcomed on arrival at Geneva Airport by Ian Logan, Director General of the Organising Committee for Lausanne 2020, along with the official mascot for the Games, Yodli.
(Photo: HOO)
The 10-member Croatian team will compete across six events.
Alpine skiing – Tvrtko Ljutic
Biathlon – Nika Jagečić, Doris Barićevac, Sven Kuprešak
Ice Hockey – Luka Banek
Cross-country skiing – Tena Hadžić, Petar Perušić, Nika Jagečić
Short track speed skating – Maja Ivandic, Stribor Suman
Bobsleigh – Toni Nimac
Ian logan, Director General of Lausanne 2020 Organising Committee: “Well it’s very impressive because we’re here in Geneva, this is the entry airport of Lausanne 2020 so there’s the first impressions, it’s a fantastic welcome at the airport, we have the volunteers very happy everywhere and the weather is here to welcome them so very proud and an amazing team that have been working very hard. The volunteers are happy, smiling, so we see that the crew and everybody are so excited about this! I’m excited too, and thankful for the fantastic people working with us.”
