(ATR) Senegal received the Olympic flag at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Thursday evening. It was a a scaled down closing ceremony for a YOG that continued to buck established trends until the very end.
Dakar mayor Soham El Wardini accepted the Olympic flag from IOC President Thomas Bach to officially become the next Youth Olympic host city. Senegal will host the event in 2022 the first time the continent of Africa hosts an Olympic event.
"The 2022 Youth Olympic Games will be another fantastic event we will celebrate for first time for an Olympic Games on the African continent," Bach said. "The African people will welcome us with all their friendship and hospitality and they deserved this!"
Buenos Aires’ closing ceremony was a brisk 45 minute outdoor affair, in the Youth Olympic Village. The goal of the Games had been to deconstruct the Olympic norms and repackage them in an urban setting. As a substitute for closing speeches, Bach and Buenos Aires 2018 President Gerardo Werthein held a short, informal question and answer session with athletes.
Instead of the traditional Olympic Park, Buenos Aires offered three open parks for spectators to come to, eliminating traditional ticketing entirely. The Games’ Opening Ceremony was held in downtown at the city’s famed Obelisk and open to the public.
Over one million people attended events for the YOG accordingto organizers. The most attended events were futsal, gymnastics, and swimming a spokesperson said.
Werthein said he wanted to thank the IOC for having trust in the organizers to "do something different" with the YOG. The IOC has said throughout the event that the Games exceeded expectations.
"We love you, Argentina loves you!" Werthein exclaimed before Bach closed the Games officially.
Now it will be time to analyze thesport program and park structure ahead of Tokyo 2020. An urban cluster in Aomi could serve as the first direct translation of the model used at Buenos Aires in an Olympic Games. Aomi will hold many of the new sports added to the Tokyo program that featured at the 2018 YOG such as sport climbing and skateboarding.
In less than a year’s time the IOC will decide what new sports should be provisionally considered for Paris 2024.Squash held a showcase at the 2018 YOG in an attempt to get the IOC’s attention in its fourth straight bid to join the program. Any sport added to Paris that features in Tokyo will be reviewed again before the sport program is finalized.
As for Dakar, the IOC expects to finalize the 2022 sport program in the next six months. Expect variants of all 28 sports on the core Olympic program to play a part in the Games.
Coverage of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games is made possible in part by BA 2018
Written by Aaron Bauer
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