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ROGGE OUTLINES PLAN FOR YOUTH OLYMPICS

IOC President Jacques Rogge outlined further details for the new youth multi-sport games - open to athletes aged 14-18 - that was endorsed last month by the IOC Executive Board in Beijing.

In an interview with the French daily sports newspaper L'Equipe, Rogge said the games start in 2010 with a summer games, followed by a winter games in 2012. The games would then take place every four years. The games, he said, would feature Olympic sports and resemble the traditional Olympics in many ways.

Summer games would last 10 days and will see 3,000 athletes competing and winter games would last seven days with around 1,000 athletes competing.

Rogge said potential host cities would need to spend between $30 million to $40 million on infrastructure and accommodation in order to host a games since only existing stadia would be used, with university accommodation serving as Olympic villages. The IOC will pay the travel and accommodation costs for all athletes and judges.

The 2010 host city will be selected in late 2008 and Rogge said Moscow and Singapore are among the cities which have expressed interest in hosting the event.