Chile's YOG Revenge; Golden Day for U.S.; Cuba Makes History

Chile Eyes Revenge In Football Final

Chile will have its shot at revenge Tuesday at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

An 84th minute goal sends the South Americans past Turkey and into the girls’ football final against Equatorial Guinea.

Maria Navarette scored the winning goal for Chile in Saturday’s 3-2 thriller.

Equatorial Guinea topped Iran 4-1 in the other semifinal.

The African nation beat Chile 3-1 on Wednesday in Jalan Besar stadium but will have to do so again for the gold.

In boys’ action, Bolivia beat Montenegro 3-1 in one semifinal, and Singapore played Haiti later Sunday in the other.

Extra Tickets Going Fast

Tickets are still available for judo, handball, football, shooting, canoe/kayak and table tennis.

Click hereto check on a given session and herefor updates on ticket availability from the Singapore 2010 twitter feed.

Organizers of the YOG announced Friday that tickets for all sports except girls’ football were sold out.

Any extra tickets for athletics, badminton, table tennis, boxing, judo, handball, canoe/kayak, football, hockey, tennis and volleyball will be available onsite after the session begins.

However, tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis, and there is no guarantee for tickets.

U.S. Enjoys Golden Day

The Star Spangled Banner is finally getting some play in Singapore.

The U.S. landed atop the podium twice Sunday, doubling its gold medal count for the competition.

Max Schneider took gold in judo and Robin Reynolds won the 400m.

The U.S. is now fifth in the medal tally with 4 gold and 19 overall after being tied for eighth just two days ago.

Cuba Gets Historic Gymnastics Win

Cuba has its first Olympic gymnastics medal, and it’s a gold.

The island country had never been atop the podium before Saturday, when Ernesto Vila Sarria shocked fans in Bishan Sports Hall by winning the boys’ floor exercise.

Sarria qualified for the eight-person final in seventh place with a score of 14.1, then put up a 14.575 in the final.

"Hopefully, I’ll be able to build on this result," he said in a statement. "Thisis just the start for gymnastics in Cuba."

The gymnast will compete in the high bars and parallel bars finals later Sunday.

Olympians Talk Up Losing

Losing in Singapore can be great preparation for London 2012 and Rio 2016, a pair of Olympians told YOG athletes Saturday in a "Chat with Champions".

Boardsailer Barbara Kendall of New Zealand and Danish runner Wilson Kipketer stressed patience and mental as well as physical preparation.

"What you do today means tomorrow is going to be better, and the next day it is going to get better again," Kipketer told the youngsters. "Concentrate mentally and physically."

The two-time medalist still holds the 800m world record he set in 1997.

"When you lose, it's very hard," Kendall said. "Youget really down and think 'I'm a loser', but you have to learn to lose so that you can learn to win."

The Kiwi became the first New Zealand woman to win gold in 40 years at the 1992 Olympic Games and now works with the IOC helping athletes transition into careers after competitive sport.

This was the third of five scheduled chats.

Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and IOC members Sergey Bubka and Frank Fredericks spoke to competitors earlier in the week.

Monday’s Events

Athletics and basketball wrap up their tournaments.

Medals are awarded in diving, judo, shooting and table tennis.

Competition continues in boxing, football, handball, hockey, sailing and volleyball.

Medal Tally

As of 9:00 PM Aug. 22 (SGT)

CHN 24 gold 14 silver 4 bronze -- 42 total

RUS 16 gold 13 silver 10 bronze -- 39 total

UKR 8 gold 8 silver 9 bronze -- 25 total

Seventry-six countries have medaled, and 42 earned at least one gold.

ATR coverage of the Youth Olympic Games

is Proudly Presented by Annecy 2018

Written by Matthew Grayson.