POSTED: June 16th 2011
NewsUpdate
Woodward to lead from the front for Team GB at Winter Youth Games
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
LONDON, Jun 16: Sir Clive Woodward's decision to stick with the British Olympic Association and leave the confused English rugby establishment to its own devices has paid off with his appointment as chef de mission at the inaugural winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck from January 13-22.
Woodward, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Entourage Commission, will be supported by BOA head of winter sport Engagement Mike Hay as deputy.
The appointment follows Woodward’s role as Team GB deputy at both the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. He was also a member of the delegation leadership for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in 2007.
As announced in October last year, Woodward will serve as deputy for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
At the YOG Team GB is expected to consist of 20 athletes from five sports who will compete against more than 1,000 of the best elite young athletes, aged 14-18, from over 70 nations across the world. The YOG will feature all seven sports on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games programme.
BOA chief executive Andy Hunt said: “Having witnessed the excellent quality of the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore last summer, I am sure that Innsbruck 2012 will provide an excellent opportunity for the athletes to gain experience of a multi-sport environment.”
Woodward, the BOA's director of sport, added: "Last month we saw first-hand the excellent preparations being made for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and I am sure that the YOG in Innsbruck will be an important stepping stone in the development of our best young winter athletes both on and off the field of play.
“I am sure every young British winter athlete was inspired by Amy Williams’s thrilling gold medal performance at the Vancouver Winter Games. Our ambition for the YOG is to find and develop Team GB Olympians of the future and give them the best opportunity to follow in Amy’s footsteps.”
Keywords · BOA · Youth Olympics · Woodward
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