2009

Asian Youth Games The Asian Youth Games, also known as AYG, is a multi-sport event held every four years among Sportsperson, athletes from all over Asia. The Games have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The Games are described as the second lar ...

, officially known as the 1st Asian Youth Games and also known as Singapore 2009, was a pan-continential multi-sport event held in the city state of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

from 29 June to 7 July 2009, with 90 events in 9 sports. The plan for the Asian Youth Games was part of Singapore's bid to stage the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

(YOG). The purpose was to allow youths to use the chance to benchmark their performances against youth teams from Asian nations. The Games also provided Singapore with an opportunity to test organisational and logistical capabilities in advance of the 2010 YOG. The organisation of the Games, spearheaded by the

Singapore Sports Council Sport Singapore (SportSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. It is the lead agency tasked with developing a holistic sports culture for the nation. History Sport Singapore was ...

, cost S$15 million, which was part of the $130 million for YOG.

Torch relay

The 1st Asian Youth Games torch relay started on 28 June morning with the ''Community and Corporate Leg''. The flame lighting ceremony was held on 28 June at the Kallang Waterfront. The flame is then carried across the island in buses to arrive at the start of the three routes, named after the Olympic values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect. A total of 70 torchbearers were involved in day one of the relay. The torch relay resumed on 29 June for the ''Schools leg'', with the flame travelling to 45 schools around Singapore, where over a hundred runners had the honour of carrying the torch. The relay ended at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where three athletes ran in with the torches and light the

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot ( kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...

as part of the Opening Ceremony celebrations.

Branding

Theme song

The theme song entitled ''Asia's Youth, Our Future'' was unveiled on 19 March 2009. The song carries the message of hope and friendship and was composed by musician

Iskandar Ismail Iskandar Mirza Ismail (23 July 1956 – 1 November 2014) was a prominent Singaporean musician who worked as a composer, arranger, conductor, music director, recording producer, performer and educator in his long career. In recognition of his exten ...

, and written jointly by Jose Raymond and Hoo Cher Liek. The singers are Nathan Hartono and Lian Kim Selby.

Emblem

The official

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

of the 2009 Asian Youth Games was unveiled on 14 November 2008 and designed by Brainwave Design. The logo, as described by

Olympic Council of Asia The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. The current Acting President is Raja Randhir Singh, substituting Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah. The headquarters ...

, represents excellence and victory that the

athletes An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...

will bring during the Games.

Mascot

''Frasia'', which means Friends of Asia, is the name of the official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...

for the 1st Asian Youth Games. The mascot embodies the values and spirit of the Asian Youth Games. The sprightly lion exemplifies friendship, respect and excellence. It constitutes a spirited representation of young hearts and minds in pursuit of sporting excellence.

Stamps

Many countries' postal services have also released stamps, such as Uzbekistan. File:Stamps of Uzbekistan, 2009-14.jpg, Stamp of Uzbekistan, 2009 File:Stamps of Uzbekistan, 2009-15.jpg, Stamp of Uzbekistan, 2009

Broadcast

The sports events were broadcast 'live' primarily via the official website through 4 concurrent 'live' streams during the games period. It was the first multi-sport event to receive approval from the

to provide broadcast coverage of all the sports events completely via digital channels. Singapore's television channel, MediaCorp Channel 5 provided daily highlights of the Games. StarHub TV had 4 dedicated TV channels to provide coverage for the Games. The opening ceremony was broadcast 'live' via the website. In addition,

Video On-Demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

Clips capturing key sporting highlights of the various games were made available.

Venues

The Asian Youth Games and the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games are expected to use the same competition venues. NTUC Downtown East originally was the planned Games Village for athletes and officials. However, a decision was made to move the Games Village to central Singapore at Swissotel The Stamford. The change was made as NTUC Downtown East does not have enough beds for the athletes. Due to the

H1N1 In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the Spanish flu, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxoviru ...

outbreak, Swissotel The Stamford catered the ninth floor to suspect cases in athletes.

Opening ceremony

Themed ''Asia's Youth, Our Future'', the inaugural Asian Youth Games opening ceremony on 29 June was held in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. More than 1,400 performers from 20 schools and tertiary institutions took part in the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was graced by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Representatives from the

and the Singapore National Olympic Council were also present. There were three segments which were showcased: 'Asia's Zest', 'Garden in the City', and 'Spirit Of Evolution'. The AYG cauldron was lit by three Singaporean young athletes, Tao Li (swimming), Remy Ong (bowling), and Jasmine Ser (shooting).

Participating nations

The Singapore Asian Youth Games 2009 saw an estimated 1,300 athletes aged between 14 and 17 from 43 countries competing in more than 80 sporting events. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sports

Attempts were made to stage all 26 YOG sports but, due to time and resource constraints, Singapore and the Olympic Council of Asia trimmed it to nine. There were a total of 9 sports, the 8 that the Singapore and the Olympic Council of Asia trimmed down from the 26 YOG sports as well as an addition sport of

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

which is not an official

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Sport. * * Aquatics ** ** * * * * * * *

Calendar

Medal table

Incidents

An athlete from

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

who was participating in the football matches came down with

flu, causing the Group A football preliminary match between Philippines and Chinese Taipei due to be played at Meridian Junior College at 5pm (1700hrs) on 20 June 2009 to be suspended till further notice. The player's condition is stable, according to the AYG2009 website. Four cases of H1N1 flu virus were discovered from the Hong Kong booters on 22 June. Malaysia has withdrawn most of its athletes (with the exception of their sailors) due to concerns over the H1N1 outbreak.

References

External links

OC Asia 1st AYG websiteAYG Results
{{Events at the 2009 Asian Youth Games

Asian Youth Games

Youth sport in Singapore 2009 in Asian sport Multi-sport events in Singapore 2009 in youth sport