You could be forgiven for thinking that National Day had come early to Singapore.

On February 21, Thursday, at 7pm, the Padang was a sea of red and cheer when the news came that Singapore had won the bid to host the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

The bus my niece was on broke out into applause when a passenger, who had received the news by text, shared it with everyone.

Such is the surge of collective joy and national pride that tiny Singapore had won against supersports power Moscow for the right to host the YOG.

Of course, there are those that would pour cold water over the victory by saying that it was a given that Singapore would be chosen over Moscow After all, there had been reports that the IOC would favour a city that had never held the Games, and Moscow has already hosted the main Summer Olympics in 1980 and will host the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Well, surprise or not, Singapore still has every reason to be jubilant. I hear the celebrations went on all night – it is the first time the YOG is being held in Asia and it is the latest in a string of sporting events that Singapore has landed in recent years.

For starters, there’s the Formula 1 night race on September 28 this year and there’s also the Volvo Ocean Race, regarded as the F1 of the sailing world, which picked Singapore to be a stopover point for the 2008-2009 race, the first time in its 34-year-history it is stopping over in South-east Asia.

Then there’s the 2013 South-east Asia Games.

Across the Kallang river, “the world’s first large-scale land and sea sports facility with integrated programming“ is being built.

In January this year, the government announced the winning bid as that submitted by the Singapore Sports Hub consortium. The group, led by a subsidiary of France's Bouygues Construction, Dragages Singapore, was chosen to build the S$1.2 billion (US$834 million) national stadium and sports hub.

The “Cool Dome“ design, pundits say, will be the next architectural icon of Singapore when completed by end 2011. The integrated complex includes a 55,000-seat capacity stadium with a retractable roof, an aquatic centre, multi-purpose arena and retail space.

Dragages Singapore is behind other iconic structures worldwide such as Stade de France in Paris and the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong.



So back to the YOG. What will this mean for Singapore?

Said IOC President Jacques Rogge, when he announced that Singapore beat Moscow in the final by 53 votes to 44, “This is a key moment for the Olympic Movement. Singapore has put together a very exciting project.

“Hosting the Youth Olympic Games for the first time is a great responsibility, and I have every confidence in the team in Singapore. 

I have no doubt that their professionalism and enthusiasm will be instrumental in the staging of successful Youth Olympic Games in 2010.“

The YOG aims to bring together talented athletes – aged 14 to 18 – to participate in high-level competitions and, alongside the sports element of the event, educational programmes on the Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values sport can deliver, and the dangers of doping and training to excess and/or inactivity. 



The 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore will bring together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials. The sports programme will encompass all sports on the programme of the 2012 Summer Games with a limited number of disciplines and events.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had this to say as he led the jubilant crowd in celebration: “I need hardly say how happy we all are.“