Republic To Send Largest Contingent To Beijing Olympic Games 2008

The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) announced that Singapore will send 23 athletics to the Beijing Olympic Games 2008. This contingent of twenty three will be the largest number of athletics sent to an Olympic Games since independence.

The sports involved are athletics, badminton, sailing, shooting, swimming and table tennis. These are traditionally the Republic's strongest sports with the best chances of winning medals at the Olympic Games.

The list of athletics from Singapore who are selected to represent Singapore at the Beijing Olympic Games are presented here.

List of Athletes:

1. Calvin Kang (Athletics, 100m)
2. Zhang Guirong (Athletics, shot put)
3. Ronald Susilo (Badminton, singles)
4. Xing Aiying (Badminton, singles)
5. Li Yujia (Badminton, doubles, mixed singles)
6. Jiang Yan mei (Badminton, doubles)
7. Henfri Saputra (Badminton, mixed doubles)
8. Koh Seng Leong (Sailing, Laser standard)
9. Lo Manyi (Sailing, Laser Radial)
10. Lee Wung Yew (Shooting, trap)
11. Tao Li (Swimming, 100m fly, 200m fly, 100m back)
12. Quah Ting Wen (Swimming, 100m free, 400m IM)
13. Bryan Tay (Swimming, 200m free)
14. Nicolette Teo (Swimming, 100m breast, 200m breast)
15. Lynette Lim (Swimming, 200m free, 400m free, 800m free)
16. Li Jia Wei (Table tennis, singles, team)
17. Wang Yuegu (Table tennis, singles, team)
18. Feng Tianwei (Table tennis, singles, team)
19. Gao Ning (Table tennis, singles, team)
20. Yang Zi (Table tennis, singles, team)
21. Cai Xiaoli (Table tennis, team)
22. Toh Liying (Table tennis, team)
23. Deborah Ong (Sailing 470)

Wishing all Singaporean athletics the best at the Beijing Olympic Games!

Singapore Youth Olympic Games blog supports Team Singapore!

Asian Youth Games To Be Held In Singapore In 2009

It is now official. The first ever Asian Youth Games will be held in Singapore from July 2 to July 10 in 2009. This announcement was splashed in The Straits Times front page today. The Olympic Council of Asia has given Singapore the right to host it in July 2009. This forerunner to the Youth Olympic Games Games will provide Singapore an excellent opportunity to put into practice the plans, processes and people systems for the greatest show in Asia before the Youth Olympic Games.

What is the Asian Youth Games?
The Asian Youth Games is a new event on the sporting calendar in Asia. The first ever Asian Youth Games will see athletes age 14 to 18 compete in Olympic sports. The organisation of the Asian Youth Games will be spearheaded by the Singapore Sports Council. It is expected to cost about $13 million Singapore dollars.

What are the events in the Asian Youth Games?
The list of events has been confirmed for eight (8) sports. The eight sports are swimming/diving, athletics, 3-on-3 basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, sailing, shooting and table tennis.

Where are the venues?
The probable venues are: Singapore Sports School (swimming), Toa Payoh Swimming Complex (diving), Bishan stadium (athletics), Singapore Indoor Stadium (basketball), possibly Safra Mt Faber (bowling), National Sailing Centre (sailing) and Toa Sports Hall (shooting and table tennis).

Good luck to Singapore and the Asian Youth Games.

Proposed Venues For Youth Olympic and Games In Singapore

Singapore is working on 24 venues for games with 4 as temporary venues for the Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in 2010. Among these venues are a cluster of about 13 units that will be available in the Kallang-Marina Bay area.

The Youth Olympic Village will be located at a brand new residential complex for students at the National University of Singapore. This multi-million-dollar investment will come to fruition just months before the start of the Games.

I shall update this report as soon as the venue locations are confirmed and released by the Singapore Youth Olympics Organising Committee.

Lukewarm Demand For Travel Packages To Beijing Olympic Games

With 57 days to go before the greatest sporting extravaganza commences in Beijing for the Beijing Olympic Games, sales of travel packages have been reported to be lukewarm in Singapore. This should have been a peak period for the sales of such travel and room packages for the Olympic Games leading till the start of the games.

The reasons given by travel agents include high prices of air tickets and room accommodations, uncertainty in the pricing of room rates over in Beijing and lack of demand from Singaporeans and tourists. Another reason was the hassle of getting travel valid visas for Singaporeans who wish to travel to China.

Or could there be a last minute rush for air tickets and travel packages when the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony approaches on 8 August 2008?

Whatever the reasons, it appears that there is not much publicity surrounding the Beijing Olympic Games to raise awareness and boost demand for trips to Beijing, China. In any case, China has a huge domestic population that will certainly fill up the stadiums and sporting arenas when the competitions kick off.

In the meantime, travel agencies will have to think of ways to create demand and move their sales.

Source: The Straits Times 12 June 2008

YOG Opening and Closing Ceremonies

The Singapore Youth Olympics and Games (YOG) will likely hold the opening ceremony on 14 August 2010.

The closing ceremony of the Youth Olympics will likely be held on 26 August 2010.

The Youth Games and Olympics (YOG) will be held for the first time in the world in Singapore from 14 August 2010 to 26 August 2010 over a twelve day period.

Singapore's Team 2010 For Asian Youth Games (AYG) in 2009

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mr Teo Ser Luck revealed that plans were underway to establish youth development plans for sports such as weightlifting, wrestling and the modern pentathlon.

This step would fulfill Singapore's promise to be represented in all 26 sports at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games (SYOG) in 2010 which Singapore will host from August 14 to 26, 2010.

Next on the cards is the setting up of a taskforce to look into youth development beyond 2010 for young athletes in Singapore by getting schools, National Sports Associations (NSA) and the Singapore Sports Club (SSC) to work together for better talent identification, selection and training.

In fact, these talented youths may get their chance to benchmark their performances against youth teams from Asian nations in the inaugural Asian Youth Games (AYG) to be held in Singapore in the middle of 2009. This Asian Youth Games competition 2009 will hold competitions for six to eight sports.

Source: Todayonline.com

Anti-Doping Measures In Singapore YOG

I believe that all athletes should participate in competitions and play fairly to win their competitions based on merit. No athlete should ever use artificial aids like drugs to enhance their performance just to win a medal at the Olympic level. In the Singapore Youth Olympics (YOG), I would like to see the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Singapore Youth Olympics Organising Committee (YOGOC) take strong anti-doping measures to weed out cheats who may attempt to turn to drugs to improve their performance.

As for the Beijing Olympic Games due in August 2008, the IOC had announced additional measures on 10 April 2008 to combat doping during the Olympics. Officials will test the top 5 finishers plus two more athletes to ensure fair play in Beijing.

In fact, all athletes in Beijing will be subject to doping controls at any time or place, and without advance notice. Any athlete who misses a test on two separate occasions during the Games, or on one occasion during the Games plus two in the 18 months prior, will be guilty of anti-doping rule violation. Any athlete possessing any substance from the list of prohibited substances would also be guilty. About 4500 tests is expected to be conducted during the Beijing Olympic Games (BOG).

Hopefully some or all of these measures will be introduced in the Olympics for Youths Games (YOG) so as to achieve an even playing field for all athletes concerned.

First Winter Olympic Youth Games (WOYG) Has Four Candidate Cities

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a report published on 31 March 2008 on their website, four cities have stepped up to vie for the opportunity to be the first city to hold the First Winter Olympic Youth Games (WOYG) in 2012.

The four candidate cities for the first Winter Olympic Youth Games (WOYG) are Harbin (China), Innsbruck (Austria), Kuopio (Finland) and Lillehammer (Norway). The four candidate cities were welcomed by IOC President Jacques Rogge at an IOC meeting in Lausanne. At this meeting, he expressed his satisfaction at the level of enthusiasm which they responded to the IOC's initiative to create the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

These four candidate cities for the first Winter Olympic Youth Games (WOYG) must prepare their bids and submit them by 19 June 2008. After scrutiny by an expert panel, a shortlist of suitable candidate cities will be put up for election by the IOC members via postal votes. The announcement of the results has been scheduled in December 2008.

Source: International Olympic Committee (IOC)

First Youth Summer Olympic Games (YOG) Update:

6 June 2008

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Teo Ser Luck, gave an update on the YOG. He said more activities related to the Games will be rolled out in six months' time.

"We are still on track. I think there are several areas that we need to cover quite quickly – such as marketing. We are still discussing the sports format and the team is currently in Athens discussing with the other International Federations on how the sports format will be," he said.

With about twenty five months to go, time is running short for the Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (YOGOC) to come out with a complete package so that the games can be optimally prepared for the grand opening in August 2010.

Source: Channel News Asia

YOG NEWS:

YOG News: World’s Best Swimming Coaches To Help Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Hosts

According to Today newspaper published on May 27, 2008, the World Swimming Coaches Conference will be held in Singapore at the end of October 2008. Organised by FINA and the Singapore Swimming Association, the World Swimming Coaches Conference will coincide with the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup (short course) 2008 series. The speakers for the conference will be selected after the Beijing Olympic Games to be held from 8 August to 24 August 2008. The coaches of the best performing teams in the Beijing Olympic Games will be asked to speak at the World Swimming Coaches Conference.



Event: World Swimming Coaches Conference

Date: end October 2008

Venue: Singapore Sports School, Singapore

This news was brought you by YOG News.

First Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) In 2012 Bidding Process Launched


Source: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/athens2004/home/full_story_uk.asp?id=2477


The IOC has already launched the bidding process for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012. A letter was sent out to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) informing them of the procedure and documentation available for cities interested in bidding for the Games.

About 1000 athletes and 500 officials will be involved in the First Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2012. All participating National Olympic Councils will send representatives for the educational workshops and cultural programmes at this Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Athletes must be between 14 and 18 years old to participate, just like the First Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore in 2010.

The First Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will last ten (10) days at the most, and will be held every four years.

Details: click here

Countdown To Beijing Olympic Games (BOG) 2008

There are 66 days to go before the Beijing Olympic Games (BOG).

This year's Olympic Games will be held from 8 August 2008 to 24 August 2008 in Beijing, China.

Approximately 10,500 athletes are expected to participate in the Games, with around 20,000 accredited media bringing the Games to the world.

The Games in Beijing will play host to the 28 summer sports currently on the Olympic program.


The following are the Olympic Games Competitions events:

Aquatics
-Swimming
-Diving
-Synchronized Swimming
-Water Polo
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
Canoe/Kayak Slalom
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics Artistic
Gymnastics Rhythmic
Gymnastics Trampoline
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Softball
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
-Beach Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling

Reference: http://news.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20080526-66993.html


Officials from the Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF) were confident that Singapore could win a medal at the First Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore in 2010.

National coach Mohamed Ali, 50, was quoted that he felt the skills of Singapore's hockey players at the youth level matched those from the top hockey nations such as India, Australia and those in Europe.

This was revealed during the one day event which was part of the World Hockey Youth Challenge recently. The single day tournament held locally attracted about 100 teams comprising 600 boys and girls from primary schools, secondary schools and junior colleges in Singapore.

Hockey is one of 26 sports which will be contested at the first Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August, 2010.

The 2010 YOG will host 3,200 of the world's best young athletes aged between 14 and 18.