The first Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) take place in the Tyrol from January 13–22, with 1,058 athletes aged between 14 and 18 competing in 15 different winter sport disciplines.

Following the success of the culture and education programme for the young competitors at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010, the programme will be repeated in Innsbruck, but this time youngsters from local schools will be invited to join in.

An Innsbruck 2012 statement said: "We are eager to integrate the Tyrolean youth into this programme because we want to support them in their personal development and give them the opportunity to become part of the Olympic Family.

"In cooperation with the Tyrolean education authority, the state of Tyrol, the municipality of Innsbruck and the Tyrolean winter sports associations, the Innsbruck 2012 Organising Committee has developed a YOG 2012 School Projects Programme specifically adapted to the Tyrolean schools.

"We would like to make the first Winter Youth Olympic Games a unique experience for everyone.

"We are looking forward to the participation of the Tyrolean schools."

The project, which will be called the YOG School Sport Challenge, will offer participating schools the possibility to learn one of the 15 Olympic winter sport disciplines in cooperation with the corresponding winter sports association.

After thorough preparation and practice, participating students will compete in their very own school sport events during the Youth Games.

There will also be the YOG World Mile Programme which will offer students the opportunity to get in touch with partner schools from all over the world.

Participating schools will hear and learn about foreign nations and cultures in different classes as part of their curriculum.

During the YOG these students will then give a creative presentation of the respective nations they dealt with in class.

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