GLASGOW has failed in its bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympics.

The city was knocked out in the first round of voting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The International Olympic Committee gave the honour Argentina capital Buenos Aires. The city, which has a population of 13million, is one of the 20th largest cities in the world and birthplace of Pope Francis.

The decision comes as a bitter blow to Glasgow and Scotland which next year host the Commonwealth Games.

But Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson promised the £250million transformation of Sighthill, which was to be the base for the event's Athletes' Village, will still go ahead.

Mr Matheson, who travelled to Switzerland for the announcement, said he was immensely proud of Glasgow and the bid.

He said: "Only a few years ago no one would have believed Glasgow could have become the UK's candidate city for a major Olympic event. The fact we achieved this is no accident.

"Glasgow is a top 10 world sporting city with a cultural life of international stand-ing and this is why we were able to step up and compete on the global stage.

"This bid has achieved so much for the city – not only have tens of thousands of young people used this bid to express pride in their city and hope for the future through the power of the Olympic values, but we have brought forward the transformation of the community of Sighthill by 20 years thanks to our plans for a Youth Olympic Village."

He added: "That should be a source of immense pride to the city and tell us all that Glasgow continues to move in the right direction as we work to grow the economy and help young people achieve their true potential."

SEB COE, chairman of the British Olympic Association, said he wanted to congratulate Buenos Aires.

He said: "We are of course disappointed Glasgow didn't prevail but we will continue to promote the Olympic values and the life-changing benefits of participating in sport to people of every age throughout the UK.

"The Glasgow bid leaves a tangible legacy. Having engaged with 1.5m young people in the UK, means we have 1.5m potential new young ambassadors for the Olympic Movement and sport. That is something we are proud of."

Shona Robison, Scotland's Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, praised the young people who had been involved with the bid.

She said: "Even by becoming a short-listed candidate city we cemented our repu-tation as the perfect stage for world-class sporting events – this in itself is something that everyone in Scotland can be hugely proud of."

Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin also congrat-ulated Buenos Aires. He added: "Glasgow is one of the world's great sporting cities and I must credit the Glasgow 2018 Bid Team for their hard work and commit-ment in delivering this message positively.

"Scotland and Glasgow already have much to be proud of as welcoming hosts for great sporting occasions."

Paul Bush, 2018 bid director, said the bid gave Glasgow and Scotland the chance to show its "excellence and sophis-tication" when it comes to staging world-class events.

He said: "This was one of the toughest Olympic races of recent times and nothing can take away from the excellent technical and visionary bid put together by all the partners.

"I'd like to pay particular tribute to the young people who were at the heart of this bid from the beginning and who embraced it."

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce deputy chief executive Richard Muir said he was pleased the regen-eration of Sighthill would still go ahead.

Mr Muir said: "Glasgow's major events strategy will continue to bring high-profile sport to the city."

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk