Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games Underway

(ATR)It was a spirited evening in Lillehammer as some 18,000 spectators faced below-freezing temperatures to hike a winding, candlelit path lit path to the opening ceremony of the2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Some 1,100 young athletes representing 71 nations playfully marched into Lysgardsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena to launch the second edition of theWinterGames.

Accompanied on the snowy stage by five athletes representing the five continents of the Olympic rings, IOC President Thomas Bach directly addressed the teen-aged competitors.

"These Games will be about your love for sport," Bach said. "They will also be about learning and sharing and about making new friends.

"This is what the Youth Olympic Games are all about: bringing young athletes together from all around the world to enjoy competition and friendship."

Bach called on the five athletes – South African Rachel Elizabeth Olivier, Malaysian Kai Xiang Chew, Australian Julia Moore, Estonian Britta Sillaots and Canadian Justine Brasseur – to describe what the Games mean to them. The IOC chief invited them to share their feelings with the world using the hashtag #iLoveYOG.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra lit the Olympic cauldron while her grandfather, King Harald, declared the Lillehammer Winter Youth Olympic Games open.

The 12-year-old princess ignited the cauldron at the YOG opening ceremony 22 years to the day since her father Prince Haakon had the same honor at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Other members of the royal family joining King Harald and Princess Ingrid Alexandra included Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette Marit and Prince Sverre Magnus.

The Olympic hymn was performed by the Lillehammer Youth Choir, while the Athletes Oath was recited by Norwegian curler Maia Ramsfjell.

The opening ceremony, titled "The Boy who wanted the world", told the story of a young boy who lives for sport and dreams of becoming the best cross-country skier in the world. Inspired by legendary Norwegian skiers, he trains hard to achieve his goals, but then loses inspiration and gives up.

In one scene, Oddvar Bra, who snapped a pole at the 1982 world championships but persevered, re-creates the moment, with the boy running out to give him a new pole. Bra proceeds to impressively climb up the in-run of the large hill ski jump as the ski fans urge him on. Alpine skiers then launched off a jump, eliciting applause from spectators at the stadium.

Sitting alone in despair, the sight of cross-country skiing legend Marit Bjoergen entering the stadium with the Olympic Flame rekindled his passion forsport.

Bjoergen passed the flame to Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who then carried the flame up the steps to light the Olympic cauldron.

According to Lillehammer 2016 CEO Tomas Holmestad, the idea behind the ceremony was to "create an inclusive, fun, cool and touching ceremony with a satirical look at Norway and what it means to be Norwegian."

The 90 minute ceremony involved 700 participants on stage, only eight of whom were professionals.

The Olympic Flame will be transferred to Sjogg Park in downtown Lillehammer where it will burn for the next nine days of competition.

#iloveyog

Written by Brian Pinelli in Lillehammer