International Olympic Committee : News

YOG athletes claim 12 medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games half-way point

8/4/2012 4:41:00 PM

Two years ago, 3,600 young athletes made history by competing in the first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore. Fast-forward to 2012, and 150-plus of those same athletes are making history again by not only competing but also medalling in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Indeed at the half-way point, the YOG graduates have already made their mark on the Games by claiming an impressive 12 medals. With the tally including three gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals, if the YOG were a country it would currently be in 11th place in the medals table.

Many of them still teenagers, this pool includes athletes from over 80 NOCs competing in 19 sports. Among those flying the flag for the YOG are South Africa’s Chad le Clos, who dazzled the world when he beat defending Olympic champion and YOG Ambassador Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly to take gold; Jangmi Kim of South Korea, who showed true courage to hold on to her lead in the 25m pistol final despite strong competition for the top spot; and Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo, who belied her years to be crowned Olympic champion in the women’s 53kg weightlifting.

Elsewhere, Sam Oldham and his team made history by winning the first GB medal in men’s gymnastics for 100 years when they claimed third place in the team all around. Mexico’s bronze medallist Mariana Avitia also made the history books as the first archer from her country to medal in the sport at an Olympic Games; and Australia’s Jessica Fox achieved what her mother set out to do in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, by beating K1 canoe slalom legend Stepanka Hilgertova to achieve silver. Not content with one medal, Russian artistic gymnast Viktoria Komova is also of particular note, winning silver in both the individual and team all around.

Fast becoming a poetic demonstration of the legacy of the YOG, these Games are far from over for the Youth Olympic Games alumni. Still to come, world champion diver Qiu Bo, from China, will aim for gold in the 10m platform; Great Britain’s Jade Jones has her sights set on a medal in the Taekwondo 57kg; and Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden takes on YOG Ambassador Yelena Isinbaeva in the pole vault.

Two years ago, these young athletes were experiencing the biggest competition of their young lives at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. The lessons they learned then, through both the sports competition and the culture and education programme, have helped shape them into the Olympians they are today – shining ambassadors for their country, their sport and the YOG.

Success is in the air for class of Singapore 2010

8/3/2012 4:48:00 PM

It’s raining medals for our Youth Olympic Games stars, as four of them ended up on the winners’ podium yesterday. In a record-breaking day, medals were won by Australia’s Jessica Fox, Russia’s Viktoria Komova, China’s Yi Tang and Mexico’s Mariana Avitia.

18 year-old kayaker Jess was crowned “Australia’s Silver Fox” as she narrowly missed out on a gold medal by 0.61 seconds to France’s Emilie Fer in the K1 canoe slalom. The journalism student, who came back fighting after capsizing in her first run in Monday’s qualification, set the time to beat of 106.51. She then faced a nervous wait to see if she could claim a medal.

“My aim here was to make the final, so when the buzzer went off I was ready for it and I was happy with that run no matter what the result.” But no matter how good the run there’s always the agonising wait for the results. “I just wanted to get out! It was really stressful; you watch and you’re like at worst I’m fifth, at worst I’m fourth, at worst I’m third...”

For Jess, Olympic finals run in the family, with both her parents being kayaking stars. “My mum won the bronze in Atlanta (1996 Olympic Games) and now here I am winning silver,” she said. What’s more, Jess settled a score for her mum Myriam by defeating Atlanta silver-medallist Stepanka Hilgertova in the final. "Stepanka (who finished fourth) congratulated me and said: 'Well done - it was a great race.' She is in her sixth Olympic Games, which is an amazing achievement."

For the Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, the experience of being at London 2012 has been “overwhelming”. “This is the real deal. At the Youth Olympic Games I was coming in as the favourite having won the junior worlds. But here, I had a different goal,” she told us. “This was an overwhelming experience. The crowd was so much bigger and the girls I was racing have been to one, two, three or more Olympics.”

Jessica’s wasn’t the only silver of the day, with Russia’s Viktoria Komova claiming the medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics all around competition. After losing out on the top spot to USA’s Gabby Douglas by 0.259, the reigning world champion was understandably disappointed, especially after her near-perfect score on the floor. “I really wanted to achieve gold, but unfortunately I didn’t manage it,” she said. “The mood is really that of disappointment.” Nonetheless, she did add: “I am proud of what I’ve done too.” And at only 17, we are sure London 2012 will be only the first of many Games for this star.

Swimmer Yi Tang (CHN) and archer Mariana Avitia (MEX) added to the Youth Olympic Games medal collection with each winning a bronze medal. "It is the first time I ever have a medal for myself,” Yi said. “I am really satisfied and very happy, and it's all because of the effort I have done."

Mariana created Mexican history as she became her country’s first archer to claim a medal in the sport."We have put in so much hard work and it has paid off. I am grateful to everybody who has given their support," she said. Having qualified for the Olympics only six weeks ago, the shooting star has already been congratulated by Mexican President Felipe Calderon. "He was in a meeting when he was told we were getting a medal. He said this was a good thing because kids will follow our example."

And there’s still so much more to come for our Youth Olympic Gamers, as boxers Zoltan Harcsa (Hungary) and Evaldas Petrauskas (Lithuania) thrashed their opponents to make it into the men’s middle (75kg) and men’s light (60kg) boxing quarter-finals respectively. While poolside, South Africa’s Chad le Clos is still dominating after winning his 100m butterfly semi-final with a time only second to swimming legend Michael Phelps. “It might be a little unrealistic to try and win,” he told us, “but I’ll try and give a good race and it’ll be another chance for me to swim next to Michael Phelps. I’m just happy about that and the fact that I made five Olympic finals.”

Watch this space for more YOG medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games coming soon!

Chad Le Champ! Youth Olympic Games graduate Le Clos takes gold

8/1/2012 11:43:00 AM

Making quite a splash in the pool, swimming superstar Chad Le Clos went head-to-head last night with Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Michael Phelps in the men’s 200m butterfly and succeeded in securing South Africa’s second gold.

In truly epic style, the five-time Youth Olympic Games medallist closed in on his hero in the last 50 metres, finishing with an incredible time of 1:52.96, beating his own national record.

Stunned for words after an emotional win, Chad hadn’t even contemplated victory in a sport that Phelps has dominated for almost a decade, “just to be next to him (Phelps) in the final was just an honour.” The 20-year-old swimming sensation has always been a big fan of Phelps: “he has always been an inspiration to me and a role model,” he says “I've watched all his races a million times and ran the commentary over.”

After seeing the “1” next to his name Chad pounded the water in disbelief, “I knew he finishes strong,” Le Clos said. “It sounds crazy but I actually thought I was Michael on the last turn. I just thought I could try do something special. The last 25 metres came in slow-mo.'"

Chad wasn’t the only ex-Youth Olympic Game athlete to win a medal today though. Both Viktoria Komova (Russia) and Diana Bulimar (Romania) won medals in the women’s artistic gymnastics team final, with Russia taking silver and Romania bronze. “I’m really happy with my medal,” Diana tells us “It feels amazing to have come this far.” The experience though can’t compare to the Youth Olympic Games: “these Games are just so much bigger, there’s so much talent and competition,” she says. After a dazzling performance by them both, the gymnastic stars are firm contenders for medals in the women’s individual after Viktoria qualified for the finals in first place. Be sure to watch out for both of them in the finals this Thursday!

Other athletes waving the Youth Olympic Games flag included swimmers Yannick Kaeser (Switzerland) and Matt Stanley (New Zealand), who didn’t qualify for their respective finals, and Christian Vom Lehn (Germany) came 6th in his semi-final. Alexander Massialas (USA) went out in round 16 of the men’s individual foil and tennis star Timea Babos (Hungary) was defeated by Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

What a legendary day for our Youth Olympians - three medals in one day! Let’s keep them coming guys!!

YOG diver Tom Daley to make a splash at London 2012

6/12/2012 1:15:00 PM

He made a splash at the tender age of 14 at his first Olympic Games in Beijing back in 2008, and arrived at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games as something of a veteran to the sport of diving.

Now, aged just 18, Tom has secured his place on Team GB for the London 2012 Olympic Games where he will go up against fellow YOG athlete Qiu Bo on the 10m platform. This will not be the first time these two have met over the years. Check out this footage of the two going head-to-head in the 3m springboard in Singapore back in 2010.

Good luck to Tom and all the YOG athletes heading to London 2012.

YOG on the Road to London 2012 gathers pace!

3/1/2012 4:41:00 PM

What a start to the year it has been for the alumni of the first Youth Olympic Games, Singapore 2010! Medals have been won, expectations exceeded and dreams achieved, as YOG athletes continue to fill precious qualifier spots for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Making quite a splash in the water world, China’s Qiu Bo once again gave a demonstration in perfection as he took gold convincingly with a 50 point lead in the 10m platform at the Diving World Cup and London 2012 test event last week.

Across the globe, Australia’s Jess Fox booked her spot for London 2012 with an impressive silver medal-winning performance in the K1 event at the 2012 Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships.

Speaking after the event, Jess told us: “I am so happy to have made the [Australian] team – it’s a dream come true and has shown my hard work pay off. I’m hoping my YOG experience can help me and can’t wait to get over there and start training.”

Also flying the YOG flag was US archer Miranda Leek, who enjoyed two podium spots at last month’s World Indoor Archery Championships – an individual silver and team gold.

“The YOG was really an eye-opener into what a prestigious competition is like,” Miranda said. “Like always, I’m just trying to make improvements here and there and I’ll see where it takes me.”

Watch out London 2012: The class of Singapore 2010 is coming!

Discover your YOG-DNA!!!

1/26/2010 5:10:00 PM

It is just 200 days until Singapore opens its doors to 3,600 amazing young athletes for the first Youth Olympic Games! To celebrate, we have launched an exciting new YOG visual identity ‘YOG-DNA’ so check out the video to discover whether you have YOG-DNA, the ‘Spirit of the Youth Olympic Games’.

YOG-DNA is not a logo or a brand, but a label, and it represents the attitudes and freedom of young people worldwide. It is a stamp of approval for anything that has the ‘Spirit of the Youth Olympic Games.’

You will be seeing more YOG-DNA as we build up to Singapore 2010 and to Innsbruck 2012. Keep an eye out for what you think has YOG-DNA!

You can also keep up to date on YOG developments at www.facebook.com/youtholympicgames and www.twitter.com/youtholympics

Singapore celebrate 200 days to go

1/26/2010 5:13:00 PM

The Singapore Organising Committee (SYOGOC) is also celebrating the 200 day countdown in style by announcing the route of the ‘Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame’ (JYOF), an initiative that intends to bring the Spirit of the Youth Olympic Games to each continent. The Flame will be lit in Athens in July and its journey will visit five international locations, including Berlin (Germany), Dakar (Sénégal), Mexico City (Mexico), Auckland (New Zealand), Seoul (Republic of Korea), before arriving in Singapore in August. Further details can be found on www.singapore2010.sg.

YOG on and tune in!

1/11/2010 5:16:00 PM

Tune in to the Youth Olympic Games news page! This is a new section of the Cube website that will bring you all the latest news in the run up to the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this August. We will also be covering the exciting preparations taking place in the colder climates of Innsbruck, Austria, where we will be hosting the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.

Singapore 2010’s Youth Guru challenges Michael Klim

1/11/2010 5:14:00 PM

Find out how the Youth Guru challenges Olympian Michael Klim to a dance challenge. He may have two gold medals, three silver medals and a bronze, but that doesn’t mean he can beat the Youth Guru in a dance-off…