Rogge heaps praises as inaugural Youth Olympics pass midway mark
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge was pleased as the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games smoothly passed their halfway point on Saturday.
The 13-day Games, opened on Saturday in Marina Bay here, attracted some 3,600 athletes and 1,850 officials and 1,900 accredited media from around the world.
"The athletes are having a great time and the smiles you see everywhere are proof of that," Rogge said according to the IOC official website. "So far everything is going smoothly and we've been very pleased with the organisation, the competition and the non-sport activities. While it is impossible to provide a full assessment of the Games until after they' re over, so far we are very satisfied."
So far athletes from 60 countries and regions have won medals here as 204 National Olympic Committees participated in the Games. The first Youth Games is expected to see a record participation by women in an Olympic event, and marks the debut of mixed events featuring teams with both men and women and athletes from different nationalities participating together.
"Athletes and spectators alike have really taken to the new sport formats," said IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games Gilbert Felli. "We' re very pleased with the way in which the International Federations have embraced the Youth Olympic Games."
The more than 50 Culture and Education Program activities have been extremely popular with the athletes, so much so that additional sessions have been added by the organisers.
One of the highlights was the Chat With Champions session featuring Olympic champion pole vaulters Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbaeva, who were a source of inspiration to the young athletes during a lively and often amusing question-and-answer period.
About 27,000 people attended the spectacular Opening Ceremony at the Marina Bay Floating Stadium in downtown Singapore, and it was available live around the world on the Singapore 2010 Official Webcasting Platform.
Global interest in the Youth Olympic Games has been strong, with over 160 rights holding broadcasters providing coverage. The Youth Olympic Games YouTube Channel has surpassed well over two million views and has now been watched more times than the entire Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games section.
The IOC said the Olympic.org website is receiving highest number of views since Vancouver 2010, while the two Facebook pages - Singapore 2010 and the Youth Olympic Games page now have more than 100,000 "fans." The overall Olympic fan base on Facebook is approaching four million fans.
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