06 June 2025 – The voices of 29 IOC Young Leaders resonated powerfully at the Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World this week, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Youth Summit integrated into the agenda of the global gathering, which took place in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Designed to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation, the gathering provided a platform for the Young Leaders to make a significant contribution to the Olympism365 strategy focused on building a better world through sport.
Turning to the IOC Young Leaders, IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry said: “I want to thank you. You are incredible, and we are all here doing a lot of the work we are doing so that your paths are made easier and your reach is even greater. We are so excited to be able to help you do that and help you achieve what you want to leave as your mark in the world. Hopefully, we are doing a good job, and you can hold us accountable to ensure that we make that happen for all of you”.
The IOC President-elect, together with IOC President Thomas Bach, also had the opportunity to spend some time with the IOC Young Leaders during an interactive session, during which some of them presented their projects.
Making concrete commitments for a better future through sport
The IOC Young Leaders, with the support of the IOC, committed to delivering sport-based projects across three key areas:
- Sport, health and well-being: projects to promote health and well-being in Colombia, Egypt, France, Ghana, Great Britain, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Netherlands, Palestine, Philippines and Samoa by the end of 2026. These initiatives will advance physical, mental psychosocial health, with a particular focus on underserved communities, displaced youth and children with disabilities.
- Sport, education and employment: projects aimed at empowering youth through life skills training and access to education and leadership opportunities in Argentina, Botswana, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, India, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal and Samoa by the end of 2026. These initiatives will advance social mobility, economic inclusion and promote gender equity in leadership, with a particular focus on underserved communities, women and girls and displaced communities.
- Mainstreaming climate action across sport: projects aimed at strengthening local ecosystems for sustainable development and social impact in China, Colombia, India, Palestine, Portugal and the Philippines by the end of 2026. This initiative will advance environmental action in both urban and rural development.
A programme focused on sharing, collaborating and confirming action
The IOC Young Leaders also met their colleagues from the 2021-2025 cohort during the “Been There, Learnt That” session, where they exchanged solutions and were offered practical tips on delivering their projects.
Two Worldwide Olympic Partners, Samsung and Visa, were actively involved in the programme at the IOC Youth Summit.
Samsung presented to the IOC Young Leaders the vision of Solve for Tomorrow, a programme on which Samsung is collaborating with the IOC to inspire young people around the world to drive positive social change through technology and sport, as part of the company’s global youth education programme.
Participants also took part in a hackathon. The IOC Young Leaders were challenged to design products, services, digital tools and campaigns to expand access to secure and user-friendly financial services. The aim was to propose solutions that are sport-based, scalable and relevant to the IOC’s target groups. The IOC will move forward the winning proposals to design tangible solutions.
Jaqueline Simoneau, an IOC Young Leader and four-time Olympian, concluded: “The Olympism365 Summit was a powerful convergence of vision and action where we had the opportunity to engage with global changemakers. We witnessed bold commitments from the international community and strengthened our collective resolve to drive positive impact through sport, every day of the year. As IOC Young Leaders, and through the IOC Youth Summit, we are committed to supporting this vision through our collective action.”
About the Olympism365 Summit
The Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World brought together over 300 representatives from 100 organisations across the Olympic Movement, United Nations agencies, development and financing institutions, civil society, for-purpose business, the safe sport community and IOC Young Leaders, working together to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through sport.
For more information on the Summit and to view the Summit outcomes, visit: Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World.
IOC Young Leaders Programme contributing to Olympism365 days a year
Launched in 2016, the IOC Young Leaders Programme empowers young people to leverage the power of sport to make a positive difference in their communities. The programme contributes to Olympism365, the IOC’s approach to using sport as an important enabler of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and specifically to Olympism365’s innovation portfolio, which aims to identify, sustain and scale innovative sports-based approaches that deliver concrete impact in targeted communities.
