Winter Youth Olympic Games open

IBU Junior Cup

09 Jan 2020

Winter Youth Olympic Games open

The Cauldron has been lit by the Olympic flame and the Lausanne 2020 Olympic Games are now officially open.

Blown away by emotions

US Biathlon Team member Danika Frisbie attended the Opening Ceremony with her team. It was the first time for her as it was for her athletes to attend Youth Olympic Games. She could not hide the fact that she was blown away by emotion watching as the young athletes enter the stadium.

"I have watched the Olympics on TV ever since I was a little girl, and this celebration captured that same spirit that I grew up believing in: that sport brings people together and makes us equal. It makes me believe in something deeper in the world. I am fully energized for the Games and feel honored to support the future leaders in sport here today!"

US Athlete Maja Lapkass was left speechless after the breathtaking ceremony and, naturally, she is anticipating the competitions.

"I do not think I really understood the true magnitude of these Games until I saw the amount of time and effort they put into the ceremony. My anticipation and nervousness for these races is way more than normal."

Biathlon events

The biathlon events will be held in Les Tuffes, France, from January 11-15, where athletes born between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2003 will compete for Youth Olympic medals.

The IBU leadership, President Olle Dahlin and Secretary General Niklas Carlsson, also attended the festive ceremony on Thursday night. They will stay in Lausanne for the IOC Session and the biathlon competitions on the first YOG weekend.

The biathlon competitions can be followed on the IBU website www.biathlonworld.com and on the Olympic Channel, which presents 300 hours of coverage of the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 from 9 to 22 January.

The schedule for the Lausanne 2020 biathlon competitions is as follows:

January 11, 2020, 10:30 - 12:05 Women's 10km Individual

January 11, 2020, 13:30 - 15:15 Men's 12.5km Individual

January 12, 2020, 10:30 - 11:40 Single Mixed Relay

January 14, 2020, 10:30 - 11:55 Men's 7.5km Sprint

January 14, 2020, 13:30 - 15:00 Women's 6km Sprint

January 15, 2020, 10:30 - 12:35 Mixed Relay

The Youth Olympic Games have been a great platform for athletes who are now regulars in the BMW IBU World Cup circuit.