(ATR) With days until the announcement of the first Youth Olympic Games host city, both Moscow and Singapore are preparing to hear favorable results of the IOC postal vote on a 2010 host. Moscow plans to re-use 1980 Games’ venues, such as Luzhniki Stadium. (Getty Images)
On Feb. 21 at 1100 GMT, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge will announce the results of an IOC postal vote to determine the host of the first YOG. Supporters of both Moscow and Singapore will be watching the live webcast at www.olympic.org.
The mayor of Moscow expects "thousands" of youth to gather at the city's Luzhniki Sport Complex to watch the announcement.
In Singapore, bid chief Ser Luck Teo says a Singapore Games would send a positive signal to other small cities.
Moscow and Singapore are the finalists in a contest that began at the July 2007 IOC Session in Guatemala City, when IOC members voted to stage the Games. Eleven cities submitted letters of interest; nine completed candidature files. After an IOC evaluation, the list was whittled down to five shortlisted cities in November. The Executive Board chose two finalists last month. Singapore broke ground on its Youth Olympic Village in January. (NUS)
Moscow and Singapore topped the rankings in the November IOC Panel of Experts report. Both have high government support and reached a perfect score on accommodation. Moscow's weak spot was finance and marketing – its total budget comes to some $180 million. IOC experts called the $76 million for culture and education "overscoped". Singapore got lowest marks for its Youth Olympic Village. Construction on the university housing had not begun yet – a "risk", the IOC experts wrote.
Some 3,200 athletes aged 14 to 18 are expected at the first edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games. The Games will include all 26 sports on the 2012 Olympic program, some with a limited number of disciplines.
Bidding is already underway for the first Winter YOG, to be held in 2012. Nominations are due from national Olympic committees on March 6; the process will finish with a host announcement in December.
Written by Maggie Lee
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