The IOC has opened the bidding process for the Summer Youth Olympics in 2018.

The International Olympic Committee has sent letters to all national Olympic committees inviting bids to host the third edition of the youth event.

The deadline for submission of bids is 1 March, 2012.

A shortlist of finalists will be selected in January 2013, and the host city will be chosen in June 2013.

The Youth Games will feature about 3,800 athletes from the ages of 15 to 18.

The Summer Youth Olympics were first held in Singapore in 2010 and will next take place in Nanjing, China, in 2014.