21st Feb 2008
After the announcement by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge was made, the organizers of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore have just over two years to deliver an event which is virtually identical to The World Games in scope.
About 3,200 athletes (aged 14 to 18) and 800 officials will be involved in the high-level competitions staged in the city-state. The program will feature the 26 sports that will also be included in the London 2012 Summer Olympics ( but with a reduced number of disciplines and events).
The Singapore YOG 2010 budget lists expenditures of 75 million US dollars.
The participation and budget figures are very similar to those announced by the organizers of The Eight World Games 2009 Kaohsiung.
Aside from the competitions staged in the Singapore YOG, the young athletes take part in various educational programs on topics such as the Olympic values, the benefits of sport, the social values of sports, and the dangers of doping and of training to excess and/or inactivity.
