A look at the Medals for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics

IOC reveals Medal Design Competition winner for the first Youth Olympic Games

From an IOC Press Release:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the winner of the Youth Olympic Games Medal Design Competition as Setsuko Fukuzawa, from Montreal, Canada, with her design entitled “Yes, Youth Can”. The design will be used to inspire the obverse of the Singapore 2010 medals which will be awarded to the winning athletes from 14 to 26 August 2010.

Setsuko’s design is a contemporary representation of the winged Greek goddess of victory, Nike. The “Y” design symbolises this and also the youthfulness of the Youth Olympic Games. The design includes the Olympic emblem, the rings, to empower athletes to participate and celebrate, and the flame detail reflects both the cheering wave of supporters and the spirit of an athlete.

Setsuko Fukuzawa commented on her design: “I wanted the design to be very clean and modern; for me this means simplicity to deliver a clear message. ‘Yes, Youth Can’ represents every young athlete in a victory stand, celebrating. Simple, but powerful.”

She continued: “It reflects the participants at the Youth Olympic Games: they will face challenges, believe in themselves and go beyond their limits. I wanted to design something that would make winners of this medal remember and feel the moment they won it. I hope that, from my design, people can feel the energy and excitement.”

Singapore 2010 Organising Committee Chairman, Ser Miang Ng said: “Ms Setsuko Fukuzawa's ingenious design will harmonise well with the creative design that will be developed on the reverse of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games medals, as we will be taking inspiration from what is representative of Singapore as a young and vibrant nation, as well as the Singapore 2010 ‘Spirit of Youth’ emblem. Our heartiest congratulations go to Ms Setsuko, and we look forward to welcoming her and the rest of the world to Singapore for a memorable Youth Olympic Games experience in August.”

Gilbert Felli, Olympic Games Executive Director, said: “This competition has been a great success. We have received entries from 34 countries whilst engaging with the public through our social media channels. Congratulations to our winner and to all the competition entrants who have contributed to the first Youth Olympic Games. I am looking forward to seeing the medal awarded to the YOG athletes in Singapore this summer!”

From the public voting round, “Yes Youth Can” received 3,881 votes, which took the entry through to the shortlisted 10 Medal Design Competition finalists. The second round of judging was by an IOC jury, which selected Setsuko’s design as the overall winner.

IOC debuts new Youth Olympic Games visual identity.

From the IOC Press release:

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!

*Previously: The first Youth Olympic Games mascots unveiled for Singapore 2010!

The first Youth Olympic Games mascots unveiled for Singapore 2010!

The Singapore 2010 Organising Committee unveiled the first Youth Olympic Games mascots on Saturday 21 November 2009: Lyo (pronounced Leo) and Merly.

Lyo is short for “Lion of the Youth Olympics”. A sports lover, he is fun-loving and hopes to inspire young people to keep fit and enjoy sport for life. He symbolises young people’s boundless energy, their determination to live life to the fullest and zeal to strive for excellence.

Merly got her name from “mer” (meaning the sea) and “ly” stands for liveliness and youthfulness. A passionate advocate of environmental protection, Merly believes that everyone has a role to play in working towards a sustainable future. She also wants to encourage young people to play an active role in their communities and promote respect for one another.

Logo Unveiled For Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games

My Take: Looks alright. Pretty generic.

From GamesBids.com:
The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games logo was officially launched today by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

"The Launch of the logo today is a major milestone for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games,” said Mr NG Ser Miang, Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC). “The logo is an important symbol of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. It embodies the vision of Singapore 2010 - Inspiring Youth, Sporting Singapore, and expresses the significance and legacy that we hope Singapore 2010 will have on the lives of Singaporeans and youths around the world before, during and after the Games.”

Singapore won a bid to host the first Youth Olympic Games in an International Olympic Committee election in February last year. Moscow was defeated in the vote.

The logo has been name "Spirit of Youth and is designed to celebrate Singapore 2010 "in an adventurous, open and fun way", according to a press release. It was chosen after the organizing committee held a logo design contest last year and reviewed hundreds of submissions.

It combines various key elements including a red flame to represent the passion to learn and power of positive thinking; a purple star to symbolize excellence and the pride of representing one's nation and a crescent to reflect dynamic youth full of promise.

The active appearance of the "Singapore 2010" word mark comprises individual and unique characters that signify harmony among the diverse participants. The Spirit of Youth inspires all of us to express the Olympic spirit and celebrate the first-ever Youth Olympic Games.

The logo was launched during a day long event featuring non-competitive sports activities for youths at the Singapore Management University Campus Green.

Singapore to host the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010

My apologies for this being a bit late, but if you have not heard already I wanted to post to let know that Singapore has been selected to host the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010! The youth games with run opposite of the regular games which means that these will be Summer Games, while Vancouver host the "regular" Winter Games in 2010. Congrats to Singapore, I'm looking forward to seeing what this step forward means to the Olympic movement.

From the IOC:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that Singapore will host the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The result was unveiled by the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Singapore beat Moscow in the final by 53 votes to 44.

The 105 IOC members entitled to vote(1) had cast their votes by post over the last few weeks. The sealed envelope with the name of the winning city was delivered to the IOC President during the announcement ceremony by the independent and certified notary who oversaw the process to guarantee confidentiality.

“This is a key moment for the Olympic Movement”, said Rogge to the journalists present in Lausanne. “Singapore has put together a very exciting project. Hosting the Youth Olympic Games for the first time is a great responsibility, and I have every confidence in the team in Singapore. I have no doubt that their professionalism and enthusiasm will be instrumental in the staging of successful Youth Olympic Games in 2010”, he continued.

“The Youth Olympic Games are the flagship of the IOC’s determination to reach out to young people. These Games will not only be about competition. They will also be the platform through which youngsters will learn about the Olympic values and the benefits of sport, and will share their experiences with other communities around the globe. We are looking forward to joining in the celebration in Singapore in 2010”, Rogge added.

The IOC President thanked Moscow for its excellent efforts and the quality of its candidature. He also hoped that today’s disappointment would not discourage it from bidding again.

Rogge also paid tribute to the other seven Candidate Cities which took part in a candidature process that started in August 2007: Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Debrecen (Hungary), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Moscow (Russian Federation), Poznan (Poland), Singapore (Singapore) and Turin (Italy).