List of Youth Olympic Sports A-Z

Youth Olympic sports are only one part of the ten-plus days of events that make up the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The other main elements of the YOG are activities in education, debate, and cultural exchange. Athletes in the Youth Olympics are between the ages of 14 and 18, and come from countries around the world. A Youth Olympics was first proposed in 1998, primarily as a method to combat rising childhood obesity.

After approval from the International Olympics Committee, an organizing partner, in 2007, the first (summer) Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore in August 2010. Like the Olympics, sports in the Youth Olympics are divided between Summer Games and Winter Games. The first Winter Games followed in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012. Each sport is also subdivided into three age groups to promote fair competition. Summer games typically draw over 3,000 competitors, while Winter Games see between 1,000 and 2,000 athletes compete. Unlike the Olympics, some Youth Olympic sports, such as fencing, table tennis, archery, triathlon, and swimming, allow mixed-gender and mixed national teams.