Creators have until March 8 to submit their entries, with a winner expected to be selected by the end of that month.

The winning design would be cast into the front of the gold, silver and bronze medals used at the fourth edition of the Games.

The reverse side of the medals are set to be designed by the Organising Committee, featuring elements of South Korean culture and the Youth Olympic Games emblem.

First-placed prize for the design competition includes a round-trip for two to Gangwon, access to the Opening Ceremony and sports events and a set of medals.

There are also prizes for second and third place in the competition.

A similar initiative ran before the Lausanne 2020 Youth Winter Olympics, won by Zakea Page of New Zealand with his "beauty in diversity" design.

Page is on the panel of judges for the Gangwon 2024 contest, alongside selected IOC youth reporters, Gangwon 2024 youth representatives, an IOC young leader and an Olympian on the Olympian artist programme.

He said it was a "great honour to be on the judging panel this time", and provided advice to participants.

"To anyone entering this competition, I would first of all like to congratulate them for taking part," Page said.

"I think that's part of the Olympic spirit, to take part and try your best.

"Try to incorporate the Olympic values into the medal design and think about how you could symbolise the upcoming Games."

Medal design competitions for the Youth Olympic Games first ran at the inaugural Summer edition in Singapore in 2010.

Gangwon 2024 is scheduled for January 19 to February 1.

Organisers last month launched the official mascot named Moongcho, representing a snowball born out of a fight between Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics mascot Soohorang and Bandabi.