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- Major Cities' Cutting-Edge Approaches
| An Introduction of Cutting-Edge Approaches Taken by ANMC 21 Member Cities. |
From Singapore: The first Singapore Youth Olympic Games were held!
| From August 14th to 26th, the first Singapore Youth Olympic Games were held. Ms. Amano, director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, delivered this report after observing the event.
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The Youth Olympic Games were established in 2007 by the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, for athletes of ages 14 to 18. A historic event was held in Singapore when the first Youth Olympic Games were held from August 14th to 26th, hosting some 3,500 athletes from 205 countries and regions. Although like the London Olympics planned for 2012 there will be 26 events, in the Youth Olympic Games there are numerous unique elements such as that both male and female athletes will take part in the same swimming relays, equestrian and fencing will be made up of international teams, etc. Also, athletes are required to take part in the Culture and Education Program, bringing knowledge of the Olympic Spirit and of the dangers of steroid use back to their homes.
Our purpose in visiting Singapore was to allow the Tokyo Junior Athletes* to observe the Youth Olympic Games, letting them build understanding of what it means to be the future top athletes. Also, we intend for them to gain international experience through exchange with the Nan Hua Secondary School. As the junior athletes embodied the future of the events and challenged the limit of their English skills at the schools they visited, I could not help but think that they have accomplished what they set out to achieve at the start of the trip.
During the four days of their stay, the Japanese athletes observed four events: archery, boxing, cycling, and canoeing. While the great ability and physical prowess of the athletes was astounding, the guides and cheering all seemed to be carried out by young people of a similar age group, bringing together an Olympic experience that truly seemed to be "by young people, for young people."
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It was my first time visiting Singapore, but I was impressed by how local policies skillfully evoked the unique aspects of the region. Being a racially diverse region where many of Malay, Chinese, and Indian ancestry reside, the country has the flexibility of Malay, Chinese, English, and Tamil all being used as official languages. Its rigorous focus on tourism, such as imposing a fine for littering, makes it worthy of being called a "Green City." Additionally, its education system provides support to the education of children so that they can smoothly grow into the future of the nation. I was given the impression that the students of the region are living up to this potential. Putting their all into their studies and sports, I could feel an intensity that Japanese students are unfortunately on the verge of forgetting.
The next Youth Olympic Games will be the 2012 Winter Games held in Innsbruck, Austria, while the 2nd Summer Games will be held in Nanjing, China. There are proposals to hold the Paralympics simultaneously with the 2012 Youth Olympics. I hope that future Youth Olympics and Paralympics will continue to function not just as a competition, but as an opportunity for young people to think about world togetherness and their own future paths in life.
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*Tokyo Junior Athletes
The Tokyo Junior Athletes are a group of athletes trained to compete in national and Olympic events, with the Japanese Olympic Committee and Tokyo Physical Education Association working together to "find, train, and develop" the athletes. 22 3rd-year middle school students were selected in the first phase of this program, starting basic and event-related training in April. They will select from among boating, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, cycling, canoeing and archery, training in increasing their abilities in particular sports.
Our visit to the Youth Olympic Games was sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo Physical Education Association, The Tokyo Sports Culture Foundation, the International Sports Tokyo Committee, and other groups. As the International Sports Tokyo Committee changed their name from the Tokyo Olympics Paralympics Bidding Committee in July, this is their first involvement under their current name.
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