Singapore 2010: 15 Months To Go And Progressing Well

Just one and a half years remain until the first Youth Olympic Games at Singapore 2010 where the Sailing Competition will feature 100 athletes across four events.

The Coordination Commission for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 concluded its second visit to Singapore on Wednesday. Fifteen months before the Opening Ceremony on 14 August 2010, the Singapore Organising Committee (SYOGOC) has advanced considerably with preparations for the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2010.

“In the last six months, the Organising Committee has worked hard towards the completion of its venue master plan and YOG event schedule by day. Much effort has also gone into detailed operational and venue planning, which will remain SYOGOC’s focus for the coming months. It will be important for SYOGOC to keep up the tremendous momentum it has built up so far as it moves towards operational readiness”, said Sergey BUBKA, Chairman of the Coordination Commission, at the end of the visit.

Good progress has been made with finalising the sports programme in collaboration with the International Sport Federations.

The sailing competition, held at the National Sailing Centre, will feature 100 young sailors competing across four sailing events:

Boys Windsurfer – Techno 293
Boys 1 Person Dinghy – Byte CII
Girls Windsurfer – Techno 293
Girls 1 Person Dinghy – Byte CII

The sailing events at Singapore are open to 15-16 year old, so in order to be eligible to compete at the YOG, an athlete must have been born between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1995. Find out more about the qualification for the YOG here. 

Along with the sports programme, the daily competition schedule is almost complete, and SYOGOC is moving forward well in terms of planning for sports presentation.

SYOGOC has also made significant progress in terms of developing the Culture and Education Programme, including specific content development, and has shown strong commitment to this part of the project, which is essential to the success of the YOG.

SYOGOC’s commercial and marketing efforts are gaining momentum with the engagement of a large number of potential sponsors and suppliers. Following the launch of the Singapore 2010 emblem in January, SYOGOC is currently developing a full range of brand elements and applications to support the promotion of the Games.

A comprehensive communications plan has been put forward, and SYOGOC has stepped up its local publicity efforts in the last few months. Messages will be disseminated through multiple channels including traditional media platforms, both local and international, events and festivals and with particular emphasis on the use of digital media. In this respect, SYOGOC launched its “WhyOhGee” website in April (www.singapore2010.sg/whyohgee/), a microsite aimed at young people. SYOGOC and the IOC are working and will continue to work together to ensure synergy between the two organisations’ digital efforts aimed at the youth audience.

“We have been working closely with the IOC to co-construct the YOG,” said SYOGOC Chairman and IOC Executive Board member Ser Miang NG. “In the last two days, we had fruitful and open discussions with the IOC Coordination Commission [CoCom] on various aspects of the Games, specifically on venue development, the Games-time Culture and Education Programme, as well as the YOG Event Schedule, which integrates the sport, culture and education programme schedules. We received valuable inputs from the CoCom. We will fine-tune the concepts and work with the IOC YOG team to develop the operations plan.

“We are in the midst of venue planning to synthesise the various functional areas’ operations plans at each venue. This will be completed in the second half of this year as we prepare to enter the Operational Readiness Planning phase in September 2009.”

The Singapore 2010 sport pictograms were unveiled on Wednesday at the Singapore 2010 Learning Centre. In line with the YOG philosophy, Culture and Education pictograms will also be created and unveiled in the lead-up to the Games.

“Presentations were of a high standard and the level of detail was a clear reflection of the solid planning work SYOGOC is currently undertaking. It is clear that SYOGOC is on the right track to deliver the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games and is committed to the co-construction of these inaugural Games with the IOC”, concluded BUBKA.

Find out more on the Youth Olympic Games at www.sailing.org/youtholympicgames.