What a roaring success!

The 2010 Youth Olympics have come and gone in the blink of an eye and as the dust begins to settle on the 12 days of action, it appears that there is barely an ounce of criticism towards them.

The event, credited as being the brainchild of International Olympic Committee President (IOC) Jacques Rogge, has very quickly managed to establish itself as an important part of the Olympic Movement and although Rogge himself suggested there were big critics of his concept before Singapore 2010, they are no doubt few and far between now that the inaugural competition is over.

Some of the biggest triumphs of the Games involved the instances where new and exciting risks were taken, and seemingly all paid off. I refer in particular to the innovative 3-on-3 basketball concept that wowed the media as much as spectators. It was fast, furious and immensely fun and therefore deservedly won a huge amount of plaudits for the youthful enthusiasm it injected into proceedings.

Another success story was that of the male and female mixed team events in the sports of triathlon and swimming. All the races seemed to produce extraordinary tension and nail-biting finishes which in sport, is only a good thing.

Away from the field of play, it was the cultural and education programme, in which all the youngsters participated, to which the majority of praise was directed. The programme included the athletes talking to elite competitors, such as Olympic gold medallist pole vault stars Sergei Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva, in a "Chat with Champions" series as well as workshops on the value of friendship, the dangers of doping and benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

The success of 3-on-3 basketball, mixed relays and the cultural and education programme were in fact such as success that the IOC have stated there are plans to introduce all three to the senior Olympic programme as early as Rio 2016, although the culture and education programme will obviously be adapted for the different age category.

There were other great successes at the Games, not least the camaraderie shown between young athletes who bonded not through the spoken word, but the through the language sport.

But for me, the real hero of the Games was the Republic of Singapore itself.

The IOC’s choice of host for the inaugural Youth Olympics was always going to be crucially important for the long-term success of the Games as they required a city that could essentially organise and mini-Olympics to such as standard that it was not simply dismissed as a glorified run-around for kids.

On February 21, 2008, Rogge announced Singapore as hosts for the Games in a heated bid process that saw the city-state see off Athens, Bangkok, Turin and Moscow. The bad news for Singapore though was that it had just over two years to organise the competition and given that London has seven years to plan 2012, it puts things into perspective.

However, Singapore rose magnificently to the challenge and the thing that struck most during the Games is how much importance was place on the small details. You simply couldn’t get lost because there were too many helpful volunteers stationed at every corner and it was difficult to be late to any event on the small island because buses, and the wonderful air-conditioned tube - or Mass Rapid Transit as it is officially known - runs like clockwork.

The venues were first class as was the sporting action that took place inside them but best of all for me was the location of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies which was no less than world’s largest floating stage in the stunning Marina Bay.

There are few Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies that aren’t spectacular but there was something truly unique about being in a location that overlooks Marina Bay and its iconic skyscrapers a night as oppose to sitting in a stadium.

My one complaint was that the weather was far too hot and humid but I feel it is hardly fair to blame Singapore for that. This can also be coupled with the fact that this is an accusation levelled at Singapore by a typical Briton whereby anything over 22 degrees is blistering in temperature.

Overall, I found Singapore to be beautiful, clean, tidy and very friendly and I even located a number of superb, lively spots to purchase a refreshingly cold beer after a day of hard work!

The concept of the Youth Olympic Games were inspired and it might be that the inaugural event would have been a success wherever it was staged but Singapore have got them off to a perfect start and rightfully written their place into the history books by exactly what their motto said they would, Blazing the Trail".



Rogge perhaps summed up the event best in his remarks at the Closing Ceremony.

He said: "Congratulations and thank you Singapore for a job superbly done.

"You rose brilliantly to the challenge of combining elite sport, modern education and culture.

"Throughout these 12 days, we all enjoyed the warm hospitality of the public authorities, of the very successful Organising Committee and of the 20,000 wonderful volunteers.

"These Games will leave a great human legacy in Singapore and around the world

"These were truly inspirational Games.

"Thank you."

The biggest problem now could be that Singapore has set the bar so high, they have created an event that will not be easy to follow.

I can therefore only sign off by saying good luck to Innsbruck in hosting the inaugural Winter Olympics in 2012 and to Nanjing in hosting the second Summer Youth Olympics in 2014.

I feel they will need it.

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames who covered the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore