Preparing future young athletes
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When the first Olympic Games of the modern era opened in Athens in 1896 with just 241 competitors and few spectators, its future was not as assured as hindsight would now suggest.
Indeed, the Athens Games attracted athletes from just 14 nations, with the largest delegations coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. The 1896 Games were a very different offering from the global phenomenon we see today, which has become a regular fixture on our sports and social calendars.
It took another 28 years for the Winter Games to join its older brother as a regular event. We get to see the Games alternately every two years today, but that wasn't always the case. The Olympic Games was not always guaranteed as a global spectacle; it has evolved just like the sporting programs.
In just a few days time, we will see the first ever Youth Olympic Games, a worthy addition to the Olympic stable. Since the Olympic program has never been set in stone and has continued to change and reflect changing attitudes to sport and society, we will see some interesting innovations and events that have not been part of an Olympic program before.
There will be new formats like street basketball, relay races in the pool and triathlon with mixed gender teams. There will even be competitions among mixed teams from different nationalities. All these are designed to appeal to a younger audience and inspire young athletes. But irrespective of the changes and experiments, the most important aspect of the Youth Olympic Games is its focus on young athletes. So, why this deliberate concentration on youth?
As organizers of the largest sporting event in the world, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) understands that it has the responsibility of preparing young athletes for the future. Indeed, this was one of the pillars upon which IOC founder Pierre de Coubertin built the modern Olympic Games at the turn of the 20th century.
Sport itself is a great educational tool for the youth. It strengthens their bodies as well as their minds, teaches them discipline, and encourages them to set goals and achieve them. But it would be irresponsible for the sports world to adopt a laissez-faire approach toward its young athletes by simply hoping that the act of taking part in sporting events will give them the abilities required to face and overcome obstacles both on and off the field.
The Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Singapore from Aug 14 to 26, will be about staging high-level competition in 26 sports disciplines and providing guidance and encouragement to some 3,600 of the world's best athletes between the ages of 14 and 18.
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