First Keys for Buenos Aires YOG Village

(ATR) Four Argentinean Olympic gold medalists were commissioned the first keys for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Village, as organizers assumed control of the complex.

Luis Scola, Paula Pareto, Walter Perez, Sebastian Crismanich, all Olympic champions, received keys from Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta. Buenos Aires 2018 organizers will now begin fitting the village for the Games.

"The objective was to hand over the Youth Olympic Village to the Organizing Committee six months before," Larreta said in a statement following the ceremony. "It was a commitment and today it's great to have achieved that."

The 2018 YOG Village will have apartments in 31 towers housing 6,286 athletes, coaches, and officials. Organizers said that unlike the Olympic Games, athletes will be encouraged to stay in the village throughout the entire Games period to enjoy festivities even when they are not competing.

The goal for the village is to sell apartments after the Games through a "soft loan program" to owners by April next year.

Baseball Tests New Discipline

The first official five-on-five street baseball competition was held last week in Rome ahead of its 2018 Youth Olympic Games debut.

A seven-game tournament between Italy, Cuba, and France was held on May 10 organized by the Italian Olympic Committee, the World Baseball Softball Confederation said. Each country entered a mixed team for the event.

Dubbed Baseball5, the scaled down version of the game of baseball is intended for use in urban parks and to make baseball accessible to more countries worldwide. It is one of a number of non-Olympic disciplines featured at the 2018 YOG in Argentina in the "sports initiation zone".

"The spectators and the sports leaders present in Rome were impressed with the novelty, youth focus and easy operational set-up of our new urban discipline," Ricardo Fraccari, WBSC president, said in a statement.

"The non-stop action is perfect for young people, the digital generation, and this new discipline can be practiced at a recreational or competitive level by people of all ages. It can also be played on any surface and is easily adapted to any space at minimal cost, which will help accelerate global expansion in and beyond the 140 countries where baseball and softball are already present."

YOG Kitted Out

Sportswear company JOMA has signed a deal with Buenos Aires 2018 to provide uniforms for the upcoming YOG.

The company is expected to produce 100,000 pieces of clothing for volunteers and officials to wear. JOMA will also develop the uniforms for the 2018 YOG Torch Relay.

"Our uniforms will be inspired from the colors of our visual identity and will demonstrate the energy of the Buenos Aires 2018 team," Leandro Larrosa, Buenos Aires 2018 director general, said in a statement. "JOMA already has ample experience in clothing the Olympic family since it has been the provider for various National Olympic Committees."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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