The Importance Of Youth Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge envisioned the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), a sporting event for young athletes aged 14 to 18 from around the world based on the Olympic Games. According to Rogge, the purpose of the YOG is to inspire young people to participate in sports and to teach them the traditional values of the Olympic Games, which are the pursuit of excellence, friendship and respect (Parry, 2012). In addition to the twenty-eight sporting events featured during the summer program and the seven sports events during the winter program, the YOG incorporates a unique Culture and Education Programme (CEP), based around five main themes: Olympism, Social Responsibility, Skills Development, Physical and Mental

The YOG is not simply sporting events; instead, its defining element, the CEP, teaches the participates about global issues, environmental issues, water conservation, nutrition, health, networking and career planning (“Blazing the trail,” 2010). Additionally, the vision of the YOG aims to motivate a young generation that is increasingly spending more time on the Internet, playing video games, and watching television, thus becoming overweight and inactive (Judge et al., n.d.). To encourage more sports participation, the disciplines chosen for the first-ever YOG were picked to appeal to the youth and given modern updates and fun twists. For example, modern pentathlon was updated with the use of safer, high-tech laser pistols instead of air pistols (Parry, 2012). Another unique element of the YOG was the creation of the mixed teams, which featured athletes from different countries and genders, competing in archery, cycling, equestrian-jumping, fencing, judo, and the triathlon (Parry, 2012). Additionally, the YOG commemorates not only victories but also participation; therefore, each individual participant is