The inaugural Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore on Sunday with an Opening Ceremony at the Marina Bay Floating Stadium. Against the city’s impressive skyline, 3,600 athletes aged 14 to 18 took part in the Parade of Nations in downtown Singapore.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, speaking at the Ceremony, said “Tonight we open a new chapter in the history of the Olympic Movement. From this moment on, young people around the world have a chance to participate in a global event that combines sport, education and culture.”
Others attending the Opening Ceremony included Singapore Prime Minister Hsien Loong, Coordination Commission Chairman for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games Sergey Bubka, and Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Yelena Isinbaeva.
Addressing the athletes, President Rogge said their participation at the Youth Olympic Games would help them “learn the difference between winning and being a champion. To win, you merely have to cross the finish line first. To be a champion, you have to inspire admiration for your character, as well as for your physical talent.”
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With sport as a foundation, the Youth Olympic Games will give the young athletes their first taste of the Olympic experience and provide valuable lessons that the athletes can leverage in their future careers, be it in sport or other vocations.
Singapore 2010 will feature some of the world’s most talented young athletes from 205 countries who will take part in the 26 sports currently on the Summer Olympic Programme as well as some exciting new events, including 3-on-3 basketball, head-to-head canoe and kayak, and cycling combined (BMX/mountain bike/road).
In addition to competing individually for their National Olympic Committees, the young athletes will also participate on teams made up of different nationalities. The mixed events are meant to strengthen bonds between the athletes and foster better understanding of each other’s cultures and backgrounds.
In the opening day of Team GB’s Youth Olympic Games campaign, the competitors made their mark with a series of excellent performances in the day one competitions.
Team GB triathlete Ellie Thorogood became Britain’s first competitor to launch her campaign, setting off from the beach at East Coast Park to the sea for the swim leg. She achieved her aim of a top-15 finish, crossing the line in 13th position after putting in strong performances in the swimming and cycling legs of the race.
“I was really pleased with that,” Thorogood said later. “The atmosphere was really special with it being the first ever Youth Olympic Games event. The course was amazing with everyone in the crowd shouting your name and it was just a great experience. I’ll learn a lot from this.”
Badminton player Sarah Milne won both of her singles matches on day one of the competition. Milne was up first again Lea Palermo of France, who had defeated Milne in the European Youth Olympic qualifying tournament. Milne exacted a satisfying revenge, beating Palermo 21-11, 21-18.
She then faced America’s Keptura, winning a hard-fought battle 21-81, 21-19 to finish the day with a 100% winning record.
Milne said afterwards, “It was great to start with two wins. It’s been a really good day. But I’ve been caught out before looking too far ahead so I’m just going to concentrate and focus on tomorrow’s game.”
Milne goes on to play Austria’s Alexandra Mathis in her third and final group match tomorrow.
Team GB’s rowers put in a strong show, with both men’s and women’s pairs dominating their heats to cross the finish line in first position to qualify for Tuesday’s semi-finals. Georgia Howard-Merrill commented, “We did what we needed to do to get into the semi-final, but we think we can go a lot faster than we did, especially in the last 500m, so we are feeling confident.”
Howard-Merrill and Fiona Gammond thereby avoided having to compete in Monday’s repechage, and have earned their day’s rest before Tuesday’s semi-finals.
In the pool, Rachael Kelly will be competing in the heats of the Women’s 200m Butterfly on Monday morning, hoping to go through to the evening final; whilst Sheffield’s Ellie Faulkner will race in the heats of the Women’s 100m Freestyle to qualify for the evening’s semi-finals.
Anna Young, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
