Lee McConnell praises Glasgow 2018 Youth Olympics bid as delegation head to Switzerland

Oct 12 2012

Lee McConnell

A DELEGATION from Glasgow has flown out to the Olympic headquarters in Switzerland to submit the city's bid to host the 2018 Youth Games.

Mahad Ahmed, 17, and Jasmine Main, 18, were part of a team of five people waved off by politicians and organisers this morning as they headed for Lausanne, Switzerland, to hand over the candidature file.

The bid is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and the British Olympic Association.

Glasgow is competing with Buenos Aires, Rotterdam and Poznan. It has received support from Prime Minister David Cameron and Olympic champions including Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Kelly Holmes and Katherine Grainger.

Young people are at the centre of the bid and triple jumper Mahad has already been involved with it. He spoke at the launch of the bid and wants to represent Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Jasmine hosted the launch of the Youth Olympics bid and as a student at the National Theatre of Scotland she would be part of the cultural events around the Games.

Athlete Lee McConnell was at Glasgow airport this morning to see the teenagers off.

She said: "Glasgow is a special place to compete in as an athlete, so it is very exciting to think that the world's best young athletes could get their first taste of the special nature of competing in an Olympic-styled event right here in front of such amazing crowds.

"Encouraging young people to be more active and to achieve their best through the power of sport is so important."

Organisers are aiming to build a sporting legacy in the country from the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

City council leader Gordon Matheson said: "Our submission to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games is a compelling one and it clearly has the support of people across the UK.

"This bid has young people at its very heart. It demonstrates the very best Glasgow has to offer on both a sporting and cultural level, and reflects our reputation as one of the world's leading sporting and cultural cities.

"We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to continue the UK's Olympic journey, building on the undoubted success of London 2012 and, of course, our own plans for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"Hosting the 2018 Youth Olympic Games would allow us to take that journey to the next stage and leave a lasting legacy for future generations."

International development minister Humza Yousaf said: "This is a proud day for Scotland as we send off our young people to Lausanne to hand in what we hope will be a bid that will win us the privilege of hosting the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.

"Scotland has a growing and deserved reputation for staging successful, world-class events and winning the right to host the Youth Olympic Games would be a fantastic opportunity to showcase Scotland on the world stage.

"Not only would it be an inspiring event, but it would help support jobs and growth in the tourism, service and event industries which are so important to our economy."

A YouGov poll has found that 62 per cent of people across the UK support Glasgow's bid, with that figure rising to 68 per cent in Scotland.

The study of more than 2,000 people also found that 68 per cent believe staging the event would continue to inspire young people to become more involved in sport and exercise.