GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The fourth winter youth Olympic Games are scheduled to kick off with an opening ceremony on Friday in South Korea's eastern Gangwon province.
About 1,900 athletes aged 14 to 18 from some 80 countries and regions will compete in four cities of the province, including Gangneung, PyeongChang, Jeongseon and Hoengseong, until Feb. 1.
The first-ever winter youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck, Austria in 2012 as part of efforts to encourage young people around the world to practice sports and adopt the values of Olympism.
Over 1,000 athletes from more than 60 nations and regions competed in 63 medal events, with Germany topping the list of gold medals.
Norway hosted the 2016 winter youth Olympics in Lillehammer under the slogan of "Go beyond. Create tomorrow."
Participating at the winter youth sports competition for the first time were Colombia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Portugal and Timor-Leste.
The third version was held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2020, bringing together almost 1,800 athletes from 79 nations and regions.
South Korea became the host of the fourth version, organizing the first-ever winter youth Olympics outside Europe.
A record number of young athletes are set to take part in the upcoming Olympic Games as Algeria, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates are slated to make their winter youth Olympics debut.
The majority of the venues from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be used to provide the young athletes with an opportunity to compete in the same sites as Olympians did six years earlier. ■
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