Poznan confident of surprise Youth Olympics victory

By Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver

POZNAN has emerged as the insiders' favourite to host the 2014 Youth Olympic Games - despite coming out second best in a recent evaluation report.

SUPPORT: Will the Euro-centric IOC membership award the second Youth Olympics to Poznan or will another Asian city follow Singapore?

The Polish city and Nanjing in China are going head-to-head tomorrow for the right to succeed Singapore, the host of the inaugural 2010 Games, for athletes aged between 14 and 18.

The Mexican city of Guadalajara withdrew after they were heavily criticised by the IOC's evaluation commission - claiming they would focus their efforts on next year's Pan Am Games, which has already been hit by cost overruns and building delays.

Nanjing remains the favourite to win the vote after the evaluation commission claimed their candidature presented ‘minimal risk'.

But Poznan believe they are carrying favour with a strong European bloc vote, despite some concerns about how realistic their low overall budget was.

Unlike the Olympic Games, IOC president Jacques Rogge has been keen that his Youth Olympic Games initiative does not become a bidding circus and has banned big-money international marketing campaigns.

But Poznan has waged a canny battle on the internet and has certainly got the advantage over their Chinese rivals when it does to online support and Twitter trending.

The IOC's full membership will hear presentations from Nanjing and Poznan tomorrow morning before voting at 1pm Vancouver time (9pm GMT).