First Nanjing Medals To Be Awarded Sunday

(ATR) After more than four-and-a-half years of preparation, action begins on Sunday as fourteen medals in sevens sports are awarded at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.

The first gold medal of the Games will go to the winner of the women’s triathlon as 33 girls from 33 nations take to the waters of the Xuanwu Lake Triathlon Venue at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Additional medals will be presented in weightlifting (2), swimming (3), fencing (2), taekwondo (2), judo (3) and shooting in the women’s air pistol event.

Seventeen sports in total, including the Olympic debut of rugby sevens, are on Sunday’s busy slate.

Also making its debut in the pool at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Natatorium is the mixed 4x100 freestyle relay with teams comprised of two boys and two girls per country. Swimming medal number one will be awarded in the men’s 400 freestyle with hardware also up for grabs in the women’s 200 individual medley.

Medal Designer Honored

Matej Čička, a twenty-three year old Slovakian university graphic design student from Bratislava, was honored on Saturday for designing the Nanjing medals.

Čička was the winner of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games Medal Design Competition, organized by the International Olympic Committee.

Čička’s winning entry – titled "Track of Winners" – was chosen from more than 300 entrants from 50 countries by an IOC jury of six, including Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli and Athletes Commission chair Claudia Bokel. His creation was described as "modern, fresh and dynamic."

"We had to do some sketches first and that we drew in about three weeks, but this design I made in three days," Čička said of his work which included collaboration with one of his professors.

For his efforts, Čička received a trip to Nanjing, tickets to the opening ceremony and a collection of the three medals featuring his design, as presented on Saturday by IOC president Thomas Bach.

Bach, overseeing his first Youth Olympic Games, discussed his hopes and wishes for these 13 days in Nanjing.

"I hope these Youth Olympic Games will change the attitude in the country in regards to sport and education and that the schools and parents understand that sport is an essential part of education," Bach said, addressing the media at an opening press conference on Saturday afternoon.

"All this hopefully leads to the fact that more young people in China are playing in sport and we get the couch potatoes in China off the couch and participating in a more healthy lifestyle."

Some 3,800 athletes from approximately 200 countries are competing for 222 medals at the Nanjing YOG, August 16-28.

Written by Brian Pinelli in Nanjing

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