(World Curling Federation) Curling is getting ready to take centre stage at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria from the 13th till the 22nd January 2012.

Two curling competitions – for national mixed junior teams of four athletes and international mixed doubles teams – will be staged throughout the Games at the Innsbruck Exhibition Centre, right next door to the main Olympic Operating Centre and the main media centre.

The Youth Olympic Games aims to bring the Olympic ideals closer to young people around the world, and, following the success of the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010, the stage is now set for the first-ever winter version.

While sports participation is at the heart of the Youth Olympic Games, uniquely, they also aim to allow athletes to step away from their own fields of play and learn something about the culture of competitors from other parts of the world, as well as becoming involved in Olympic-themed education programmes.

Altogether 16 mixed curling teams (two junior men and two junior women aged between 16 years and 2 weeks old to 18 years and 2 weeks old at the time of the event) will be eligible to take part via a formal qualifying procedure based on performances at the 2011 WCF European Challenge, Pacific and World junior championship events.

The mixed curling competition will take place at the start of the Games. After this, the make-up of the mixed doubles teams will be decided by performances in that event, with each team having one male and one female player, of two different nationalities.

While performances in the 2011 Championship events will determine the nations involved, National Olympic committees (NOCs) are free to select their four team members by any method of their choosing.  An announcement on the Canadian team makeup is expected soon.

Website: http://www.innsbruck2012.com/en