Innsbruck continues to build on YOG legacy

Having previously staged the Olympic Winter Games in 1964 and 1976, the Austrian city was already steeped in Olympic history, but the Winter YOG 2012 helped reinvigorate Innsbruck’s position as a world-class sports and events destination.

Not only are the Olympic venues still in regular use – hosting several World Championships and World Cups – but the city can also draw on a pool of talented young professionals and an engaged community of volunteers, who all gained first-hand experience of delivering major events by working with the Innsbruck 2012 Organising Committee to host the YOG.

Indeed, since hosting the YOG in 2012, Innsbruck has drawn on this legacy of major event experience to stage the 2016 International Children’s Winter Games, the 2018 UCI Road Cycling World Championships and the annual Crankworx mountain bike festival, as well as developing new events such as the Tyrolean School Winter Games. Most recently, Innsbruck also hosted the 2020 Winter World Masters Games (WWMG) – the world’s biggest winter sports festival for athletes aged 30 years and over.

The WWMG brought more than 3,200 masters athletes together from 58 countries to compete in 12 sports, and boasted many links to the 2012 Winter YOG. In addition to using many of the same venues, the WWMG mascots – Hanni and Joe – were billed as the parents of the Innsbruck 2012 mascot, Yoggl.

The organising committee of the WWMG also provided another link to the YOG, with the event being delivered by Innsbruck-Tirol Sports (ITS) – a not-for-profit company that was formed following Innsbruck 2012 to help build on the legacy of the Games. ITS was also responsible for staging other recent major events, such as the International Children’s Winter Games, and has built on the volunteering legacy created by Innsbruck 2012 by developing a permanent volunteer platform, known as Team Tirol, which has grown to more than 3,500 people interested in supporting major events in the Tyrol region.

“Due to our history of sports events we were able to accumulate a broad knowledge and have successfully written a great legacy story [since the YOG],” explains Georg Spazier, CEO of ITS. “Especially with our Team Tirol volunteer platform and the recently developed volunteer learning app, we have gained unique and valuable experience. This experience has also been in great demand for other international events in the region, such as the IFSC Climbing World Championships in 2018, and the IBSF and FIL World Championships.”

Around 700 volunteers contributed to the success of the WWMG – many of whom had also volunteered during Innsbruck 2012, and Spazier believes this is just one of many ways that the YOG have contributed to Innsbruck’s growing status as a world-class host city for major events.

“The YOG paved the way for our success,” he says. “The self-confidence for major sporting events has been strengthened and the overall Olympic legacy of the city and region revitalised. By modernising the sports infrastructure and launching the Team Tirol volunteer platform, the YOG made a sustainable contribution to the sports development of Innsbruck and Tyrol. So many skills of so many young talents have grown and moved on with us and our organisation up to now.”

For Spazier, who worked as head of marketing and communications for the Innsbruck 2012 Organising Committee, the experience of working on the YOG gave him a valuable insight into running a multisport event, which has enabled him to lead ITS in delivering subsequent events such as the International Children’s Winter Games and the WWMG. He has also been able to share this knowledge with others – including subsequent YOG hosts – to further expand the human legacy of the Winter YOG Innsbruck 2012.

“The organisation of a multi-sport event requires an enormous level of organisation and coordination,” he explains. “We have tried to pass on this knowledge from the beginning and bundle all kinds of experiences for each and every event to also make this accessible for others. Numerous studies conducted around all our events have also helped to gain some really useful information and insights too. Additionally, selected delegations visited us over the last eight years. We are pleased to be able to share this expertise with others.”

And after successfully delivering the WWMG, Spazier is already looking ahead at how ITS can continue building on Innsbruck’s YOG legacy.

“We are always ready for new events,” he adds. “Our sports history is a source of worldwide recognition, and we also have an excellent service industry and a reputation as a highly competent partner in the fields of event management and organisation. Through accumulating structured knowledge, we have learned more about the different target audiences for such events and generated know-how that can be used in the future for various projects.”