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It will be a Games at which no records will be kept, it was revealed last week And there has been talk that medals may not be handed out.
Now, TODAY has learnt that even a basic table of how the nations stand based on performance — a ranking closely watched at every Olympic Games — could be missing from the Youth Olympics.
Ahead of the inaugural Games here in 2010, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is as yet undecided on what to do if a world mark is broken.
While "Faster, higher, stronger" — the motto of the Olympic Games — will be emblazoned all over Singapore come the opening ceremony in August 2010, the competitive element of the athletic contests could be toned down in favour of the Games' cultural and educational components.
When contacted on Wednesday, Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) chairman Ng Ser Miang said nothing had been confirmed yet.
"With regard to the finalisation of sports, events, format and other details, these would be finalised over time," said Mr Ng, who is also an IOC executive board member.
The IOC is expected to discuss these issues at its executive board meeting in June.
The IOC is keen to use the Youth Games to drive home Olympic values like friendship, respect and excellence into young athletes via a series of cultural and educational programmes. However, the emphasis on promoting such values has raised concerns that the competitive element of the Games could be watered down.
But Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck, who is part of SYOGOC's panel of advisers, said the Games is not just about results and medals. "The Youth Olympics is more than that. It is about building a sporting culture, teaching the right values, and friendly rivalry," said Mr Teo.
Singapore has set aside US$75 million ($101 million) to host the Games, which will see up to 3,500 athletes, aged 14 to 18, from 205 countries compete in 199 events across 26 sports from Aug 14 to 26, 2010.
The IOC's Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli has given the assurance that the sporting aspect of the Youth Games would be equally important.
Still, the possibility that there could be no medals or a medal tally has disappointed some.
"If you don't have the high intensity of (sports) excellence, then claims of friendship and respect will become slightly watered down," said former national sprint star Canagasabai Kunalan, 65, who set the-then national 100m record (10.38s) at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. "It's easy to shake hands and be friends when the stakes are not there, but can you still do so when the stakes are high?
But former national swimming star Ang Peng Siong felt using the Games to promote the right values was more important. "When you have medals and high stakes, people tend to compromise and that's not what sports is about," said the two-time Olympian.
National sailor Rachel Lee, 15, said she would not be affected by a no-medals Games.
The 2007 South-east Asia Games Optimist gold medallist said: "All that matters to me is that I do well for Singapore. But I would be disappointed if the national anthem isn't going to be played." - TODAY/ra
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