And just as the Olympics have continued to reflect changing attitudes to sport and society, so we will see some interesting innovations and events that have never appeared before on an Olympic program. There will be new formats such as street basketball, relay races in the pool and triathlon with mixed gender teams; there will even be competitions with mixed teams from different nationalities. All these are designed to appeal to a younger audience and inspire young athletes. But whatever the changes and experiments, what is at the centre of the Youth Olympic Games is the focus on young athletes. So why the very deliberate concentration on youth?

As organizers of the largest sporting event in the world, the International Olympic Committee understands that it has a responsibility to prepare young athletes for their future. Indeed, this was one of the pillars on which IOC founder Pierre de Coubertin built the modern Olympics.

Sport itself is a great educational tool for young people. It strengthens their bodies as well as their minds, teaches them discipline, and encourages them to set goals and achieve them. But it would be irresponsible for the sports world to take a laissez-faire approach to its young athletes by simply hoping that the act of taking part in sport will give them the abilities they require to face obstacles both on and off the field.

The Youth Olympics, which begin Saturday in Singapore, will be about staging high-level competition in 26 sports while providing guidance and encouragement to some 3,600 of the world’s best athletes between 14 and 18.

In addition to two weeks of first-class competition, the athletes will take part in a wide range of cultural and educational activities aimed at equipping them with the skills to make reasoned, intelligent decisions in life. The program will cover a host of topics, including the benefits of leading healthy lifestyles, the dangers of doping, and the value of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

We want to provide the athletes with the tools to take ownership of their futures. If they choose to continue with sport as a career, they must be fully aware it is not a lifetime occupation. Even the greatest athletes typically end their sporting careers in their 30s.

Communicating with athletes in their teens, who are potentially more receptive than their older peers, is crucial. The key is to present the information in a manner that the athletes find both enjoyable and relevant to their lives. At the end of the day, success rests on how much the athletes are willing to embrace the information they receive.

As such, we are reaching out in the most interactive ways possible. The Youth Olympics have a strong presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. We have created contests that challenge the online community to move away from their computer screens and get active. We have enlisted some of the world’s top athletes, including Usain Bolt, Yelena Isinbayeva and Michael Phelps, to act as role models.

Above all, the Youth Games and the cultural and educational activities must be fun. We want to encourage youngsters to strive to be the best they can but also to enjoy sport for sport’s sake and to continue enjoying it long after dreams of medals have faded. The Youth Olympics will give the athletes a chance to compete, to learn and to share experiences with other young people. It is our great hope that the athletes will act as ambassadors in their communities by sharing what they learn when they return home from Singapore.

If the Youth Olympics can help provide the world’s youth, one athlete at a time, with a path to better, brighter, healthier futures, we will have succeeded. And very soon, the Youth Games will become as much an indispensable fixture of the Olympic calendar as its grown-up brothers.

Jacques Rogge is president of the International Olympic Committee.

Link to article at The Globe and Mail