I Youth Olympiad

= I Youth Olympiad =

The I Youth Olympiad is the first of the Youth Olympiad Games to be held which will take place in New Athens on October 4th, 2008. The two countries hosting the games are Greece and the United States. This is the first Youth Olympiad where not all the athletes participated in the Preliminary Olympiad held four years ago in 2004. "New Athens", the Host City and Youth Olympiad Village contains a pool, a running area, a volleyball course, and an auditorium for the opening, award, and closing ceremonies. Ten youth athletes from the ages of 13-15 representing European and South American countries are participating with only three who participated in the Preliminary Olympiad.

Bidding Process

The YOC had a difficult time choosing the Host Country for the I Youth Olympiad. The bidding process for the I Youth Olympiad is for the I Youth Olympiad Host Country. The Youth Olympiad Host Country, which is the main host for the whole Youth Olympiad, is always Greece. The Games Host Country differs every game. Every athlete was eligible to bid and every athlete did bid. After the candidature process, Germany, United States of America, France, and the United Kingdom were the finalists in the bid. After the five Youth Olympiad Committee Members reviewed the Candidature Acceptance Packet of each country, the scores went as the following:However the in the end with the work of the YOC and Greece, the final themes were the following:

Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony with the theme of, "Ancient-Modern Olympics: The Spirit of New Athens" lasting forty minutes long, starts off with the Ancient Olympics with Acropolis, ancient Greek statues, and atheltes doing some of the events from the Ancient Olympics. Then it moves to the Modern Olympics with the Youth Olympiad Emblem and celebrates the Spirit of New Athens with the sea. Then the I Youth Olympiad Theme Song, "Chariots of Fire" is played by Vangelis and the Greek Flag is hoisted. After the Parade of Nations, the Olympic Anthem is sung and the Olympic Flame lit opening the I Youth Olympiad.After the Awards Ceremony, the Closing Ceremony relatively shorter than the Opening Ceremony contains its short but main event to follow its theme, "Sea of Flags" to combine the countries of the world together. Soon after, the Olympic Flame is extinguished and the games are over.

Atheltes Participating/Events

Ten athletes were invited to participate and *** of them could not participate and had to be replaced. The athletes and their countries are listed below.The Event Categories for the I Youth Olympiad are the following
1. Running
2. Athelit Sports and Games
3. Volleyball
4. Aquatics
5. Competitive Swimming

I Youth Olympiad Conclusion

TO BE ADDED OCTOBER 5TH, 2008