IOC president confident in 'good' second Youth Olympics
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge on Thursday believed there would be a "very good" second edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
The Youth Olympic Flame will be lit again four years later in Nanjing, China. Speaking at a press conference before the closing ceremony of the first YOG, Rogge said he believed the next version will also be a good one.
"I'm pretty sure they will stage very good Games," said Rogge.
Although the traditional Olympic Games were once forced to reduce its size to ease some pressure off the host city, Rogge dismissed concerns about the the size of the Youth Games growing ever bigger with each version, even if the second Games will be held in a bigger city. Nanjing has a population of eight million, three million more than that in the Lion City.
"It's not out of scale. And definitely I will discuss with our Chinese friends how to organize the event and keep what I would call the intimacy of the Games. These were very intimate games where athletes felt as members of a family in the Olympic village," Rogge said.
"I have no concerns. The Chinese friends proved in many organizations that they knew exactly what they had to do. I'm leaving tomorrow together with (Gilbert) Felli to start discussions with the organizers," he said.
The first Youth Games, which began here on Aug. 14, brought together some 3,600 athletes aged 14 to 18, competing in 26 sports and participating in a wide-ranging educational programs.
The Chinese delegation for the inaugural YOG in Singapore consists of 106 members including 68 athletes. They collected 30 gold, 16 silver, and five bronze medals in the 13-day competition.
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