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I Summer Youth Olympic Games
Official logo
Host city	Singapore
Nations participating	170 (estimated)
Athletes participating	3,500 (estimated)
Events	184 in 26 sports
Opening ceremony	August 14
Closing ceremony	August 26
Stadium	The Float at Marina Bay

The 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games (officially known as Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games) is the inaugural event of the Summer Youth Olympics, a major international sports and cultural festival to be celebrated in the tradition of the Summer Olympic Games from August 14 to August 26, 2010, during the XXIX Olympiad. The Games will be held in Singapore, in a decision announced on 21 February 2008 after mail voting by 105 IOC members^[1]

Bid process

Eleven cities expressed interest in hosting the Games, nine of which ultimately applied. Five cities were selected to the short list: Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Moscow (Russia), Singapore, and Turin (Italy). The list was further shortened to two finalists: Singapore and Moscow. Singapore won the right to host the Games on 21 February 2008 after a televised announcement in Lausanne, Switzerland by IOC President Jacques Rogge^[1]

2010 Youth Olympic Games bidding results
City	NOC Name	Postal votes
Singapore	Singapore	53
Moscow	Russia	44

Bid details

The central business district of Singapore

Host of the 117th IOC Session, Singapore made its first formal bid to host a multi-disciplinary sporting event of this magnitude. Positive factors in its bid included its high connectivity with the world, its youthfulness as an independent country, and its reputation for excellence and multi-racial harmony. The city-state rolled out a high-publicity campaign which included being amongst the first to launch its official website, bid logo (despite IOC rules against bid logos) and a bid tagline "Blazing the Trail" on 16 October 2007^[2] and getting the local population to support its bid, including an effort by students to collect 1 million signatures in support of the games.^[3] The Logo-Making Competition for the Games attracted 1,500 participants and the winning design was unveiled on January 10, 2010. Entitled 'Spirit Of Youth', the official logo, according to the organizers, showcases passion for sports and the values of Olympism.

Singapore originally planned to use the National University of Singapore’s University Town for a high tech Youth Olympic Village. However the rapid increase in construction costs in 2008 resulted in the shifting of the Youth Olympic Village to Nanyang Technological University in Jurong West.^[4] Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre will also feature prominently in the games.

There were concerns that the plan contained two new venues - the Olympic Village and equestrian complex. With concerns over delivering in time for the games, a construction expert reported the $423 million Olympic Village plan at the University was feasible. (There is a backup plan as well.) Similarly, the expert believed the equestrian venue could be delivered on time.^[5]

The budget is $75.5 million and has strong government support. The plan is also attractive because of its compactness in the Singapore city-state.^[5]

Accommodations

The Bid Committee has secured 4,310 guaranteed rooms in 36 hotels. The official hotel partner for the Games is the Fairmont Singapore, Fairmont's pioneer property in Asia with 769 luxurious suites and rooms, 16 restaurants and bars, a 70,000sqft. convention centre with 27 meeting rooms and the award-winning Willow Stream Spa - one of the largest spa and fitness facilities in Asia.

Fairmont Singapore will welcome overseas guests from the Olympic family, International Federations, commercial partners, government officials and representatives from the media during Singapore 2010. Given the hotel's strategic location in the heart of the city, visitors staying at the Fairmont Singapore will have ease of accessibility travelling to the competition venues in various parts of Singapore.

Fairmont Singapore has been involved in hosting a stellar list of high profile and global scale sporting events including the 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in July 2005, a week-long event which saw over 6,500 officials, delegates, dignitaries and sports celebrities witness London win the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

In 2008 and 2009, Fairmont Singapore served as the corporate base of several Formula One sponsors and officials, and assisted in catering to more than 30,000 meals for corporate hospitality suites during the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix night race.

Fairmont Singapore

Fairmont Singapore   Deluxe Room   Night view of Swimming Pool   Raffles Ballroom at Raffles City Convention Centre   Italian cuisine at Prego   Willow Stream Spa facilities   Couple treatment at Willow Stream Spa

Transportation and infrastructure

All Singapore 2010 competition and non-competition venues will be within 30 minutes of the Youth Olympic Village (YOV), the Main Media Centre (MMC) and the Olympic Family hotels (OFH).

An Event Transport Operations Centre (ETOC) will manage all transport-related matters specific to the YOG, providing real-time travel information. A shuttle service will link all YOG venues for all accredited persons, as well as receiving complimentary travel on public buses and subways. Olympic Lanes will be designated along key routes for faster access to all YOG venues.

Singapore Changi Airport is well connected to more than 130 airports worldwide and 80 international airlines operate scheduled services via Singapore The airport has presently three main terminals, and a budget terminal.

Preparation

Singapore has received some international support for the game's preparations. The People's Republic of China, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, expressed its desire to assist Singapore in its preparations^[6]. Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Summer Olympics, informed that members of his organising team would plan to attend the event, including coaches and administrators^[7].

Organization

A selection process to determine the members of the games' organising committee commenced soon after the bid result announcement. Plans were made to have the committee to visit the IOC to obtain greater details on organising the event.^[8] Members of the 23-member Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) was announced on 24 March 2008 as follows:

The SYOGOC would be aided by a Panel of Advisors, composed of:

• Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.
• Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Defence and president of the Singapore National Olympic Council
• Teo Ser Luck, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance
• Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education^[10]

In addition, an Inter-Ministry Committee was established with Niam Chiang Meng, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports as its chairman^[11]. Comprising five sub-committees on Sports, Culture and Education, Community Outreach, Youth Engagement and Business and Marketing, its members would be announced at a later date.

Youth Olympic Village

The Youth Olympic Village will be located in Nanyang Technological University^[12].

Financing

Singapore won the bid with a budget of $75.5 million, which will be derived from corporate sponsorship and the remainder topped up by guaranteed government funding. The organisers hope to raise S$40 million to S$50 million in sponsorship^[13].

Marketing

The organising committee launched an international logo design competition on 29 July 2008 through 29 August 2008 via the official website^[14], requiring that the logo incorporate the three themes of the Singapore identity, the Olympic ideals, and a youthful spirit^[13].

Mascots

The mascots are a fire-themed male lion named "Lyo" and a water-themed female merlion named "Merly"^[15].

Sports

A total of 26 sports will be featured, for a total of 31 disciplines. This includes two disciplines under the IOC classification of aquatics (diving and swimming), and two for Gymnastics (Artistic and Rhythmic).

Sport Pictograms

The inspiration for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Sport Pictograms comes from the Official Emblem itself- 'Spirit of Youth'- which is depicted participating in each of the 26 sports of the Youth Olympic Games.

The sport pictograms also have a distinctive, contemporary graphic style that will make them a highly recognisable feature of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

Notes

• Note 1: Only one discipline each for Basketball and Volleyball will eventually be held under IOC direction.
• Note 2: Images of the Sport pictograms will be updated shortly.

Venues

A total of 18 competition venues has been earmarked for the games, spread in five main clusters around the island. 11 of these venues do not require permanent works, three require permanent works, one, the Singapore Turf Club Riding School is being built as a permanent facility for the Singapore Turf Club, and four would be completely temporary fixtures located in existing open spaces or waterways. All of these venues except the Singapore Turf Club Riding School and the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre are government-owned.

The Float At Marina Bay will be the venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Seven venues has been earmarked for training purposes, in particular the existing sports facilities within the National University of Singapore (NUS) which is adjacent to the Youth Olympic Village, the later of which will occupy the NUS University Town^[16]. Construction of the University Town commenced on 31 January 2008^[17], and was speeded up upon confirmation of Singapore as the YOG host^[18]. Other main venues include the The Float at Marina Bay, which will stage the opening and closing ceremonies, The Marina Bay Sands, site of the Main Media Centre, and The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, which will be the Olympic Family hotel with 500 rooms already secured by the organisers.

However, on 2 August 2008, it was announced that the venue for Youth Olympic Village will be located at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus instead of the National University of Singapore University Town.^[19]

Notes

• Note 1: Training for other sports will be held at the competition venues.

Cultural and Education Programmes

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set a vision for the YOG to be of an event comprising a balance of sports, culture and education. The objective of the Culture and Education Programmes (CEP), is to educate, engage and influence the athletes to develop true sportsmanship and to live by the Olympics Values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship while having fun at the same time.

To enforce cultural education on the Youths, live youth performances, art installations and also festivals revolving around the Olympics’ spirit and the diversity of cultures.

As for the Education component, an interactive range of activities are lined up for them, for instance hands-on workshops, talks by Olympians, outdoor activities, community projects, exhibition booths and all of those would be based on 8 different themes:

• History of the Olympics Movement
• Olympism & Olympic Values
• Sports Context e.g. Managing a Professional Athlete Career
• Risks in Sports e.g. Doping and Betting issues
• Wellbeing & Health
• Involving youth ( Career in sports e.g. Sports-related Career Options)
• Social Responsibility
• Digital Media

The CEP aims to achieve the IOC’s vision of creating an inspiring and embracing Olympic Movement which would constitute to the success of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Media

Extensive usage of media to market the Youth Olympic event as media has the ability to generate awareness and create excitement. It will be one platform to reach out to youth worldwide so as to strengthen the connection of youth worldwide through communication before the even begin.

The Media that will be used include Friendster, Facebook, and Youth.sg 2010 discussion forum .

Singapore Youth Olympic Games Learning Centre

Singapore’s Youth Olympic Games Learning Centre is located at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) headquarters along Kay Siang Road. It was officially opened by the Singapore National Olympic Council president Teo Chee Hean and former pole vaulting great Sergei Bubka.

The two-storey, 600-sqm facility will be open to the public for free. It is open on weekdays(except public holidays from 2pm to 5pm), and will allow visitors to discover and experience the spirit of Olympics and trace Singapore’s journey in winning the bid to host the first YOG in 2010.

This will feature several sections that educates the public about the different games, as well as the history of broken records and the games lined up for the YOG. The public can also get their hands at table tennis, fencing and basketball at the Interactive sections.

Impact

• Economy

This event would contribute to Singapore's economic growth as this large-scale event would draw in much tourism receipts from the athletes as well as tourists who come to Singapore to watch the first ever YOG.

• Social

Through the culture and education programmes inaugurated with the YOG, Singaporeans can expect to gain much knowledge as well as cultural exchanges.

References

External links

• Singapore 2010 Official site
• 2010 Youth Olympic Games host city announcement ceremony (video)
• Unofficial Community Support Site