1st Youth Olympic Games
Singapore (SIN), August 14 – 26, 2010

SINGAPORE (SIN), FIG Office, August 12, 2010: The Olympic Flame reached Singapore last week and continues to gain ground as the Olympic spirit stirs. Many of the 3,600 participating athletes have arrived at the Youth Olympic Village, which opened its doors Tuesday at the Nanyang Technological University.

The first ever Youth Olympic Games, a creation of IOC President Jacques Rogge, will kick off this Saturday with what is expected to be an impressive Opening Ceremony at Singapore’s The Float@Marina Bay. The Games are about staging high-level competition in 26 sports while providing guidance and encouragement to the participants, Juniors from age 14 to 18 years. In addition to two weeks of top notch competition, the athletes, who will be staying in Singapore through August 27, will take part in a wide range of cultural and educational activities in a programme known as the CEP. These activities, most of them held at the Youth Olympic Village, are aimed at equipping Junior athletes with the skills to make smart and solid decisions in life. Topics such as a healthy lifestyle, the dangers of doping, the value of solidarity and fair play are highlighted in an atmosphere of friendship and fun.

“The Youth Olympic Games will give the athletes a chance to compete, to learn and to share experiences with other young people,” states Rogge. And they are meant to inspire, as they have already done. The example of 12 year old Singaporean schoolboy Wei Jei, who ran 15 kilometres in his flip flops only to get drenched in rain as he trailed the Olympic Torch on Tuesday, is inspirational and hopefully will be followed by others. Having moved many people with his passion and determination, the boy became a local hero overnight and has been made one of today’s torch bearers by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) and Singapore’s Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

The first Youth Olympic Games will certainly become an unforgettable event and the experience of a lifetime for these young Olympians, as well as for spectators and fans. People are getting excited as the lighting of the Olympic Flame in Singapore draws nearer.

Gymnastics events will begin on Monday, August 16, with the qualifying round in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, followed by Women’s Artistic Gymnastics on Tuesday. All-around Finals are slated for August 18 and 19, and Apparatus Finals on August 21 and 22. Trampoline Gymnastics will be held on August 20 and Rhythmic Gymnastics events for Individuals and Groups are scheduled for August 24 and 25.