International Canoe Federation

It’s carnival day in Singapore as the nation gets together to mark the 99-day countdown to the start of the games. Firework displays, athlete competitions and uniform and venue-dressing unveiling are all in the mix to mark the three-month-to-go milestone. The main celebration was held at *Scape and was attended by Singapore dignitaries including Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, SYOGOC Chairman Ng Ser Miang and IOC Coordination Commission Chairman, Sergey Bubka.

The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, from 14 to 26 August 2010, will receive some 3,600 athletes and officials from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with estimated 1,200 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 370,000 spectators. Athletes, aged between 14 and 18 years old, will compete in 26 sports and take part in a Culture and Education Programme.

The Games are intended to inspire youth around the world to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect. It will create a lasting sports, culture and education legacy for Singapore and youths from around the world, as well as enhance and elevate the sporting culture locally and regionally.
 

Young athletes will participate in high-level sporting competition and in a Culture and Education Programme (CEP) which will focus on themes ranging from Olympism and Olympic values to skills development. Non-athletes (such as those participating in the Young Ambassadors and Young Reporters programmes) will also participate with the athletes in the CEP activities. In-line with the IOC’s vision of the Youth Olympic Games, these two programmes are of equal importance.

Canoe-Kayak events will begin on Saturday 21st August, with the last final taking place on Wednesday 25th August. Adjustments to Canoe Sprint and Canoe Slalom (the ICF’s two Olympic disciplines) have been made especially for the event. For instance, all Canoe athletes will compete in both Canoe Sprint and Canoe Slalom events. Canoe Slalom will be based on a flat course; athletes have to navigate around buoys. Perhaps the most significant difference is that the races are all head to head. The Men’s and Women’s K1 will each have 24 athletes and the Men’s C1 will have 16. Racing in pairs, athletes will be knocked out until just one pair is left for the final. These new courses and racing programme were designed to test the speed and agility of athletes in both disciplines.
 

Australian Canoeing is marking the 99 days to go celebrations with a selection trial at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith. The trials will follow the same format as the SYOG; a head to head sprint around a figure of eight course and a head to head slalom obstacle course. Just as they will in Singapore, the athletes in Australia will compete in the NELO Vintage K1 for Canoe Sprint and a ROBSON slalom K1 for Canoe Slalom.

Australian Canoeing has organised the trials and will nominate one male and one female athlete to the Australian Olympic Committee following tomorrow’s event. Competition Manager, Sue Natoli said: “it is a really interesting concept and because it is the first time we have run this type of event it will be new and exciting for everyone.”

The first athletes to test the water were Jordan-Lee Jones and Bill Bain from the Sunshine Coast Canoe Club and National Talent Identification Programme. 16-year-old Jones said “it is so much fun doing the slalom, it is completely new and it has added variety into our training, but it certainly isn’t easy and there has been a lot to learn in a short time”.

Other events and selection trials will be held around the world and excitement for the Games is clearly building, as Mr Ng, SYOGOC Chair said, “As we move closer to the start of the Games, I can feel the excitement and buzz in the community growing with each passing day. Many National Olympic Committees and International Federations are finalising their team preparations for Singapore 2010, and I am confident that SYOGOC and the IOC are ready to welcome the world to Singapore for this historic event.”

The IOC has two 99-second interview with their two Ambassadors of the Youth Olympic Games, click on the links on the right to view.

To keep up-to-date with SYOG news, visit www.singapore2010.sg.
For more information on Australian Canoeing Selection trials visit www.canoe.org.au.