A group of 40 young athletes from 16 Olympic sports were today selected by the British Olympic Association to compete for Team GB at the first Youth Olympic Games (YOG), which take place in Singapore from 14-26 August.
The athletes, aged 14-18, will participate alongside 3,600 competitors from all 205 National Olympic Committees in a competition schedule which includes all 26 sports on the London 2012 Olympic Programme.
Northern Ireland’s Mark Nesbitt will be going for gold in the archery competition, having claimed double gold for Team GB at the 2009 Australian Olympic Festival and silver at both the World and European Junior Championships in 2009. Earlier this year Nesbitt was GB’s highest placed archer, finishing sixth at the European Senior Championships.
The British contingent will include 2009 World and 2008 European 10m platform diving champion Tom Daley, who was Team GB’s youngest competitor at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Alongside Daley in Team GB will be Victoria Ohuruogu, the 400m England Indoor Under-20 Champion and younger sister of current Olympic 400m Champion Christine.
Ohuruogu is joined in Team GB by 12 fellow athletics competitors, including fellow Londoner David Bolarinwa, who impressed at the recent European Youth Olympic Trials in Moscow where he won gold and silver in the 100m and 200m respectively to qualify in style for Singapore.
The athletes will be joined in Singapore by 1,450 officials, 1,500 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 370,000 spectators.
In creating the YOG, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.
The YOG will provide a balance between sport, education and culture. In addition to participating in their sport competitions, athletes will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme (CEP) – which includes 50 activities focused on five themes: Olympism, Skills Development, Well-being and Healthy Lifestyle, Social Responsibility and Expression.
British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan said:
“The International Olympic Committee is to be applauded for creating this inspirational youth event. The Youth Olympic Games raises the bar in terms of the delivery of educational and sport programmes to young people. It will be a celebration not only of sport, fitness and healthy lifestyles, but also of the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.”
Team GB Youth Olympic Games Chef de Mission Jan Paterson said:
“It’s a huge privilege to be taking such a talented group of young athletes to compete for Team GB at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. I’m confident that we will see some exciting performances and the athletes will display skill, determination and pride to achieve their personal best for Team GB in Singapore.
“Importantly, the Youth Olympic Games are about more than just sporting competition. It will provide the young Team GB athletes with an excellent opportunity to participate in a multi-sport event, and experience living and competing with over 3,500 competitors from across the world.”
Commenting on his selection Mark Nesbitt, said:
“Being selected for Team GB for the Youth Olympics is wonderful and a great honour. I shot really well this year and achieved some personal best’s, I made the national senior team for the first time so it has been a fantastic year so far and I am really delighted to be going to the Youth Olympics and hope to continue my recent form. I see the Youth Olympic Games as a stepping stone to London 2012 and I imagine it will give me a real taste for the Olympic Games.
Over the last 18 months the team at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland have been brilliant in supporting me, they work directly with my coaches at GB, for example the Performance Analysis unit works really closely with my coaches and they are able to share the footage online 24/7/. Important aspects of preparation like Strength and Conditioning and Physio are now part of my weekly routine, which is excellent. The facilities are top class and I use the indoor track as a shooting range, it is 70m which is the Olympic distance and is perfect for my training.”
