The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the names of the cities which are bidding to host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012. In alphabetical order, they are: Harbin (China), Innsbruck (Austria), Kuopio (Finland), and Lillehammer (Norway).

The Candidate Cities, as they known, have until 19 June to submit their bid documents. These will be analysed by a panel of experts, before a shortlist is then drawn up for an IOC Evaluation Commission to assess.

The host city is expected to be announced in December 2008, and the winner will go down in history together with Singapore as the hosts of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.