(ATR) With a spectacular shower of fireworks across the Singapore skyline, the first Youth Olympic Games are open.
More than 3500 athletes from a record 205 countries (one more than Beijing) will take part in the 12-day program. Competitions in the 26 sports set for the London Olympic sports are combined with educational and cultural activities for the teenage athletes.
The skyscraper skyline of Singapore was the backdrop for a colorful and spectacular opening ceremony Saturday night, held at The Float@Marina Bay Platform, the world’s largest floating stage.
In keeping with the nature of the Games, young people filled the cast of nearly 7,000 performers with music dominated by pop. Fireworks launched from buildings surrounding the marina punctuated the two-hour program.
The Youth Olympic Flame was carried by dragon boat across Marina Bay to the ceremony where the caldron atop a lighthouse was ignited.
Ivan Heng, a leading theater director in Singapore was the ceremony Creative Director.
Fashioned after the opening ceremony of the Olympics, the main difference for the YOG was the absence of the nearly two-hour parade of athletes that comes with the Summer Games.
In Singapore, the athletes walked en masse to their seats at the start of the ceremony. A parade of National Olympic Committee flags midway through the event still took the better part of 30 minutes to go from Greece to Singapore. Athletes from Kuwait, its NOC suspended from the IOC over government interference charges, marched under the Olympic flag Saturday night.
The formal, protocol portion of the ceremony included speeches from Singapore 2010 chairman Ser Miang Ng and IOC President Jacques Rogge, arrival of the Olympic Flag and oaths of the athletes, officials and coaches.
Dressed in a suit but without a tie, Rogge, his voice raspy from a head cold, directed his speech at the youngsters in Singapore. He expressed his hope that the Games would bring the results for which they were created.
"You will 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, aswell as for your physical talent. You have to compete in spirit of fair play, respecting your opponents and the rules — without doping or any other unfair advantage.
"If you can reach that pinnacle, if you are ready to serve as role models for your generation, you will all be champions, irrespective of your rankings," said the IOC President.
The YOG are his baby. Created more than three years ago by the IOC at his initiative, they are modeled after the European Youth Olympic Festival he started 20 years when he was president of the European Olympic Committees.
The YOG is the first new multi-sport event for the IOC since the Winter Olympics began in 1924. Earlier Saturdayat a press conference, Rogge acknowledged that the Games would be a learning experience and that mistakes might happen in this first edition.
S.R. Nathan, the president of Singapore officially declared the opening of the Games. Closing ceremony will be held Aug. 26.
The grandstand audience numbered about 25,000, all admitted without paper tickets. Instead, sponsor Visa provided pre-paid cards that were swiped at turnstiles. The commemorative cards can be reloaded with cash for use post-ceremonies.
Competition actually began two nights ago with the first games of the football tournament.
Sunday brings a schedule of 10 sports, including medals in swimming and the first matches in 3-to-a-side basketball, which FIBA sees as a potential new discipline for the Olympic Games.
Sunday morning the first medals of the Games will be awarded to the winners of the girl's triathlon.
ATR coverage of the Youth Olympic Games
is Proudly Presented by Annecy 2018
Reported and written in Singapore by Ed Hula and Ed Hula III.
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