International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge Stresses on Importance of Youth Olympic Games
The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge has given his thumbs up to the first ever Youth Olympic Games that are taking place in Singapore.
The Games are being contested by athletes aged between 14 and 18 years who have converged at the venue from all over the world.
However, the Games were plagued by a controversy of sorts when tensions rose over an Iranian athlete's withdrawal from the Taekwondo final against an Israeli competitor.
After the incident that highlighted the Games for the wrong reasons, Jacques Rogge stressed that the aim of the Youth Olympics was to promote cultural and educational awareness amongst the athletes who have a big future ahead of them and can make a real name for their countries once they are ready for the bigger stage.
A total of 205 countries are represented in the event, which was opened amid fanfare and a stunning fireworks display on the 14th of this month.
The Youth Games' concept is the brainchild of Rogge, who reiterated that the event was not aimed only to build athletic ability, but also to increase participants’ awareness of other cultures.
According to Rogge, the Games would be deemed a success if the core objective was met, as winning and losing is not important at the new stage.
"..for me, the defining moment is really the success of our cultural and educational programme because this is a novelty, this is really something new in the world of sport, we have added this ambitious education programme to a sport event," said Rogge.
Rogge added that he was delighted at the turnout of the athletes, and the fact that most of them were elated to be at the venue of the Games and compete at a global stage this early on in their lives.
He added that the athletes had a twinkle in their eyes and a smile on their faces, which was a testament to the success of the Games.
Meanwhile, the Games took an ugly turn towards a political controversy when on the eve of the final of the men's 48kg taekwondo event, Iran's Mohammad Soleimani forfeited his bout.
The athlete was rushed to a hospital with suspicion of an ankle injury, which resulted in a gold medal for Gili Haimovitz of Israel, who was his opponent in the final.
Israeli officials claimed after the withdrawal that Soleimani deliberately threw in the towel due to the fact that his home country does not recognize Israel as a country, yet an optimistic Rogge insisted that the injury was indeed genuine and was not feigned due to political reasons.
"That incident has been documented by an independent doctor in a clinic in Singapore. The athlete did not participate in the competition because of a foot injury. He was driven to the hospital, was examined by a Singaporean doctor, totally independent, not belonging to the organisation and he diagnosed an ankle sprain, and for us that's the end of the story," said Rogge.
The President also insisted that there were no major concerns about the timing of the event, which is taking place during the Islamic month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
"We are constrained by the international calendar, and it's not possible for the sports movement as a whole to stop competition in every religious day or period,” concluded Rogge.
The Games will end on the 26th of this month.
Tags: