The IOC Young Leaders Programme supports young people to develop local projects or social businesses that use sport to address social challenges. The International Olympic Committee runs the four-year programme as part of Olympism365, its strategy for advancing sustainable development through sport.
Participants combine mostly online learning with in-person and networking experiences while developing their initiatives. The 25-member 2025–2028 cohort is now underway. The IOC has not published dates for a later application cycle.
Benefits & funding
- The 2024 application call stated CHF 10,000 in seed funding per participant across four years; the February 2025 cohort announcement later described the amount as USD 10,000.
- Participants receive monthly expert-led workshops, coaching, mentoring and dedicated programme support.
- The programme provides access to global gatherings and an international sport-for-development network.
- The four-year learning journey covers project and social-business development, including human-centred design, prototyping, fundraising, impact measurement and communications.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be 20–28 years old.
- The most recent call was open to any young person and stated no nationality, residency or work-experience requirement.
- Candidates had to complete a four-week Learning Sprint, including four virtual sessions and topic-specific reflection tasks, before applying to the full programme.
- Applicants needed to develop a grassroots project or social-business idea that uses sport to address a pressing challenge in their community.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Age requirement
20–28 yrs
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Application process
- 1Register for the four-week Learning Sprint during the published registration period.
- 2Complete all four virtual sessions and the topic-specific reflection tasks.
- 3After successfully completing the Learning Sprint, submit the formal programme application during the second-stage window.
- 4Proceed through the IOC selection process; finalists in the most recent cycle were validated by their National Olympic Committees.
- 5If selected, enter the four-year capacity-building programme and develop the proposed sport-based initiative.
Program timeline
The IOC issued the most recent application call.
Oct 4, 2024
Registration for the four-week Learning Sprint closed.
Oct 21, 2024
Formal applications opened for successful Learning Sprint completers.
Nov 18, 2024
Formal applications closed for the 2025–2028 cohort.
Dec 16, 2024
The IOC announced the 25 selected Young Leaders.
Feb 19, 2025
Later cycle
Official opening and application dates have not been published.