First Youth Olympic Games In Singapore

Singapore has created history in the world of sport for being the first nation in the world to host the Inaugural sporting activities for youth- The YOG or Youth Olympic Games 2010. The game to be held from 14 - 26 August 2010 is the first ever in the world where youths congregate and show their prowess on the field. 


Athletes from 26 sports will compete to be crowned as the initial world youth champion nation in this game. 

Today 14th August 2010 will be the opening ceremony and it is a very special moment in all Olympic sports whether its Summer Olympics or Winter Olympics besides other sporting events worldwide. I pick the statment from the Official YOG website about this moment. 

The Opening Ceremony represents the official commencement of the Olympic Games.

Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), initially intended the Modern Olympics to feature both athletic competitions and artistic achievements. Since the Modern Olympics has evolved into a celebration of sport, it is in the opening ceremonies that we see the most of Coubertin's artistic ideals. The ceremonies typically start with the raising of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The host nation then presents elements of its culture by performing artistic displays of music, song and dance.


Lyo and Merly will be the official mascot for the games. Lyo (from Leo?) is the male lion while Merly the female. Its such a significance choice because lion is associated with the island and LYO stands for Lion of Youth Olympics. Merly represent the merlion a symbolic image of Singapore related to her folklore.  

As with other Olympics the significance of the Olympic torch to the sporting  event is to reach out to as many people as possible and traditionally the flame will start from Olympia, Greece, the home of the Olympics. For this YOG, the first flame was lit in July 2010 and travel to one city in each of  the five continents in the world. These five cities will represent the continents. 


Malaysia will be represented by a 22 member contingent comprising of 13 athletes and 8 coaches and will be led by swimmer Alex Lim Keng Liat as Chef de Mission. Malaysia is expected to deliver medals in Badminton, diving and Yatching. 


Malaysians...lets put our hands together and cheer for our athletes competing at the YOG. If we are far from achieving our dream of bagging the first Gold in the Olympics, this is an opportunity for our youth to mark the name Malaysia on the YOG roll of honour as one of the first Gold medallist in am Olympic Games. 


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