Quah Ting Wen (Centre) celebrates with her teammates after winning the 4x100m freestyle relay
Photo courtesy: of SAYGOC
On the athletes’ front, the first-ever Asian Youth Games (AYG), which started on 29 June, ended on a high note on 7 July, after nine full days of intense, nail-biting action. It saw some 1,400 young athletes competing in nine sports at various venues across the island. These sports were Aquatics (diving and swimming), Athletics, FIBA 33 (Basketball), Beach Volleyball, Bowling, Football, Sailing, Shooting and Table Tennis.
For these young athletes, the AYG provided a rare and invaluable opportunity for them to pit their skills against their peers on an international level. More importantly, it allowed them to learn the values of Olympism – Friendship, Respect and Excellence.
Although these athletes are young, they were no less subject to the full range of emotions so starkly evident in veteran athletes. Our hearts sang as we saw their joyful beams as they took their place on the victory podium; tears pricked our eyes when we heard their anguished cries of defeat. It was through tears and sweat that these young heroes learnt the Games’ spirit of fair play. Despite language and cultural barriers, they built lasting friendships that could only be forged and tempered on the anvil of shared triumphs and adversity. For all who had participated in one way or other, the AYG experience will remain forever etched in their memories.
On Sporting Singapore’s front, the AYG 2009 proves Singapore’s ability to bring an event to life with passion and relevance on a modest budget and a tight deadline. Sporting Singapore has the facilities and systems and processes to produce quality, multi-sport, multi-nation games. It also has a deeply-committed community of sports leaders, professionals, educators and politicians who will stand behind sporting initiatives.
The AYG Torch Relay may best illustrate the breadth of Singapore’s support for sports. Despite H1N1 fears, the two-day event drew over 60,000 supporters from the community. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ran a leg of the relay as did Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Defence and President of the Singapore National Olympic Council. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Community Development, Youth and Sports ran the final leg on Day 1 of the two-day relay.
With this vast political and community support, Sporting Singapore will be ready to roll out the inaugural Youth Olympic Games 2010 next August.