Nanjing YOG Young at Heart, Says IOC Games Director

(ATR) IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli tells Around the Rings young people are at the heart of both the plans and the planning for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

"It is part of the DNA of the Games to see as many young people as possible advising the organizing committee," he told ATR in between sessions of the three-day Coordination Commission in Nanjing, which concludes Friday.

"Nanjing has a very good strategy in place, and they have got young people working on the organizing committee."

Felli added that NYOGOC is also enlisting youngsters from countries other than China to work as consultants, and "young people from Nanjing who have studied abroad are returning, ensuring there is a young attitude running through the planning."

The theme of youth will also extend to the 20,000 volunteers who will be working at the Games, Felli confirmed. "There is a strategy to recruit youths as volunteers, and they will start to educate them."

Nanjing will follow the inaugural YOG two summers ago in Singapore, from which Felli said plenty of lessons have been learned.

"One key lesson is the need to understand the needs of all the clients," he told ATR.

"There were also lessons in relation to reaching spectators and how we can make sure families will be able to follow their athletes."

He also said it’s has been identified as important to engage with schools and community groups, something that is already happening in Nanjing.

The stated aim for the YOG is that they should not get out of hand in terms of scale and budget, and Felli is confident Nanjing will deliver what is required.

"We have a clearly defined framework for the Games, and the committee has prepared a budget similar to that of Singapore," he said.

This week’s Co Comm is being headed by Greece’s Lambis Nikolaou in place of its chairman Alexander Popov of Russia, who is absent for personal reasons. Felli confirmed that everything has been going smoothly.

"Things have been very well prepared for the meeting, and some good progress has been made since the last one a year ago," he said. "Mr. Popov was here in April and we have had contact.

"If you look at the Olympic Village, it is three months ahead of schedule. There is a good level of preparation and planning, and we have seen a much better understanding of and progress on marketing the event and interacting with other parts of China.

"In terms of venues, they are mainly existing ones, but the golf venue has now been confirmed and we are happy with that."

As with any major sporting event, there are concerns among locals about possible travel problems – expressed this week on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter. Felli, however, moved to ease any fears.

"We have had a presentation in relation to transport, and we have made it clear that everybody will be transported by shuttle service," he said. "There will be dedicated lanes put in place where necessary, but everything is very close to the Olympic Village and it will not be a problem."

Felli did confirm that although wushu will be part of the cultural program in 2014, at the request of the host nation, the wushu athletes will not be staying in the Village.

The Nanjing YOG – with the motto "Share the Games, Share our Dreams" – will run from August 16 to 28 of 2014 with the next Co Comm scheduled for June 2013, although other visits will be made in the meantime.

Reported in China by Matt Horn

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