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Youth Olympic Games: Tell it like it really is
Tue, Mar 30, 2010
The Straits Times
By Leonard Lim
Let's be realistic. The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will not showcase world-class performances and will be far from anything like the traditional Summer Olympics.
What it is is this: a celebration of youthful vigour, a chance to build a sporting culture in a generation obsessed with Nintendo Wii and iPods, and an event for Singapore to show it can be an excellent host.
In the past year, International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials and the Singapore organisers have gone on about how the world's best athletes will converge in the Republic in August for the inaugural YOG. Expect world records and world-class athletic achievement, they said.
But how can that be true? Take the football competition.
Reigning World Cup champion Italy, European champion Spain, South American giants Brazil and Argentina and other favourites like England and Portugal will all be absent.
Instead, minnows like Albania, Cuba, San Marino and Vanuatu will be in the draw, after the sport's world governing body Fifa felt it should give the slots to smaller football nations which rarely play at the World Cup or Summer Olympics.
So instead of seeing the future Ronaldinhos and Lionel Messis light up the Jalan Besar pitch, we're left with countries that are virtually unheard of in world soccer circles.
Take another well-watched sport, swimming.
Swimmers from Canada and the United States - a powerhouse in the sporting world - will not turn up, choosing instead to focus on the Pan-Pacific Championships going on simultaneously in North America.
Continue to talk about world-class performances and that the globe's best athletes will be appearing on the Bishan Stadium track and in the Singapore Sports School pool, and we'll risk raising expectations too high.
Won't Singaporeans feel short-changed when they make their way to the venues hoping to witness sporting prowess akin to what they have seen at the Olympics on television, but instead get something far inferior?
It is unfair to expect so much from the athletes, who will be aged between 14 and 18. Few, except perhaps the gymnasts, will be close to world standards and for many of these juniors, it may even be their first major Games.
Let's remember what the original idea of the YOG was, which was made clear when Singapore bid for the Games in 2007.
IOC president Jacques Rogge, who mooted the idea, aimed to transform youths around the world into athletes.
He said at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City in July 2007, after the Congress ratified his brainchild: 'Today, we observe a widespread decline in physical activity and an increase in obesity.'
The IOC's website says that the YOG's vision is to 'inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values... this is why the event balances sport, education and culture'.
Notice the absence of any mention about having the best athletes converging for the Games.
The focus instead is on education through sport.
Dr Rogge, in an interview with Reuters, put it well last Tuesday when he said the YOG 'cannot be too serious'.
'It must be fun... there should not be a gravity that you have at the traditional games - that's for later,' said the former sailor, who was in Singapore for updates on YOG preparations.
The YOG - the latest in the Olympic calendar after the Summer, Winter and the Paralympic Games - is also a way of keeping the five rings relevant to a generation increasingly turning away from sport and spending more time in front of the television or online.
That is why activities such as a day at Outward Bound Singapore and the Marina Barrage are being included for athletes, outside their competition and training time.
It is the first time such a culture and education programme is being worked into an IOC Games.
Workshops on the dangers of taking drugs and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and discussions on how to be a responsible global citizen are also on the cards.
Interactive activities like forums and cultural activities, and country booths in the Athletes' Residential Village will also help build rapport among teens from different cultures.
Multiple Olympic gold medallists such as US swimmer Michael Phelps and diver Guo Jingjing of China will mingle with athletes and share their experiences at the top level.
And unlike the Summer Games, which sees participation from about 10,000 athletes, a maximum of 3,600 will compete in the youth version.
There is also no need to build new stadiums and facilities, vastly lowering costs.
The Government has set aside US$75 million (S$105.4 million) in public-sector funding for the YOG, minuscule compared with the reported US$17.4 billion 2012 Olympics host London is budgeting.
This gives smaller countries such as Singapore, which are unlikely to host a Summer Olympics, a chance to host an IOC sporting event and showcase themselves to the world.
So the YOG will not be a Junior World Championship, replete with top performances in all 26 sports.
Neither will it be a summer or holiday camp.
Instead, it will be an eclectic mix of both sports and fun - something specially tailored for teenage athletes that will get them interested in active competition at a time when digital and social media threatens to take away a love for sports.
The YOG needs to be marketed that way, and not dressed up as something else.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
Tue, Mar 30, 2010
The Straits Times
By Leonard Lim
Let's be realistic. The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will not showcase world-class performances and will be far from anything like the traditional Summer Olympics.
What it is is this: a celebration of youthful vigour, a chance to build a sporting culture in a generation obsessed with Nintendo Wii and iPods, and an event for Singapore to show it can be an excellent host.
In the past year, International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials and the Singapore organisers have gone on about how the world's best athletes will converge in the Republic in August for the inaugural YOG. Expect world records and world-class athletic achievement, they said.
But how can that be true? Take the football competition.
Reigning World Cup champion Italy, European champion Spain, South American giants Brazil and Argentina and other favourites like England and Portugal will all be absent.
Instead, minnows like Albania, Cuba, San Marino and Vanuatu will be in the draw, after the sport's world governing body Fifa felt it should give the slots to smaller football nations which rarely play at the World Cup or Summer Olympics.
So instead of seeing the future Ronaldinhos and Lionel Messis light up the Jalan Besar pitch, we're left with countries that are virtually unheard of in world soccer circles.
Take another well-watched sport, swimming.
Swimmers from Canada and the United States - a powerhouse in the sporting world - will not turn up, choosing instead to focus on the Pan-Pacific Championships going on simultaneously in North America.
Continue to talk about world-class performances and that the globe's best athletes will be appearing on the Bishan Stadium track and in the Singapore Sports School pool, and we'll risk raising expectations too high.
Won't Singaporeans feel short-changed when they make their way to the venues hoping to witness sporting prowess akin to what they have seen at the Olympics on television, but instead get something far inferior?
It is unfair to expect so much from the athletes, who will be aged between 14 and 18. Few, except perhaps the gymnasts, will be close to world standards and for many of these juniors, it may even be their first major Games.
Let's remember what the original idea of the YOG was, which was made clear when Singapore bid for the Games in 2007.
IOC president Jacques Rogge, who mooted the idea, aimed to transform youths around the world into athletes.
He said at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City in July 2007, after the Congress ratified his brainchild: 'Today, we observe a widespread decline in physical activity and an increase in obesity.'
The IOC's website says that the YOG's vision is to 'inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values... this is why the event balances sport, education and culture'.
Notice the absence of any mention about having the best athletes converging for the Games.
The focus instead is on education through sport.
Dr Rogge, in an interview with Reuters, put it well last Tuesday when he said the YOG 'cannot be too serious'.
'It must be fun... there should not be a gravity that you have at the traditional games - that's for later,' said the former sailor, who was in Singapore for updates on YOG preparations.
The YOG - the latest in the Olympic calendar after the Summer, Winter and the Paralympic Games - is also a way of keeping the five rings relevant to a generation increasingly turning away from sport and spending more time in front of the television or online.
That is why activities such as a day at Outward Bound Singapore and the Marina Barrage are being included for athletes, outside their competition and training time.
It is the first time such a culture and education programme is being worked into an IOC Games.
Workshops on the dangers of taking drugs and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and discussions on how to be a responsible global citizen are also on the cards.
Interactive activities like forums and cultural activities, and country booths in the Athletes' Residential Village will also help build rapport among teens from different cultures.
Multiple Olympic gold medallists such as US swimmer Michael Phelps and diver Guo Jingjing of China will mingle with athletes and share their experiences at the top level.
And unlike the Summer Games, which sees participation from about 10,000 athletes, a maximum of 3,600 will compete in the youth version.
There is also no need to build new stadiums and facilities, vastly lowering costs.
The Government has set aside US$75 million (S$105.4 million) in public-sector funding for the YOG, minuscule compared with the reported US$17.4 billion 2012 Olympics host London is budgeting.
This gives smaller countries such as Singapore, which are unlikely to host a Summer Olympics, a chance to host an IOC sporting event and showcase themselves to the world.
So the YOG will not be a Junior World Championship, replete with top performances in all 26 sports.
Neither will it be a summer or holiday camp.
Instead, it will be an eclectic mix of both sports and fun - something specially tailored for teenage athletes that will get them interested in active competition at a time when digital and social media threatens to take away a love for sports.
The YOG needs to be marketed that way, and not dressed up as something else.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
