2014 Summer Youth Olympics

Bidding process

The International Olympic Committee established the Youth Olympic Games in July 2007. The 2014 host city was elected on 10 February 2010, during the 2010 IOC Session in Vancouver. This was the first election of a Youth Olympic Games host city held in an IOC Session. The elections for the host cities of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and 2012 Winter Youth Olympics were done through postal votes by IOC members.

Logo

Like other Olympic events, the 2014 Summer Youth Games has its own logo. The logo consists of three parts. The colorful "NANJING" reflects the image of the gate of Nanjing and the features of some Jiangnan houses. The various colors symbolize youths' energetic spirit.

Venues

All of the venues are located in four zones within Nanjing. All venues with the exception of the cycling road, sailing, and triathlon venues, were temporary.

The Nanjing Olympic Sports Center hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.

Torch relay

The Youth Olympic torch was designed by the Vatti Corporation Ltd. The torch is known as the "Gate of Happiness." A structure resembling a city gate is found on the top part of the torch and the blue color of the torch represents the peaceful tranquility of Nanjing. The Yangtze which flows next to Nanjing is presented as stripes found on the handle of the torch. It is said that the torch is capable of resisting wind speeds of 11 m/s, rainfall of 50mm/h, altitude of up to 4500m and a temperature range of -15˚C to 45˚C.

Following Olympic tradition the torch lighting ceremony was held on 30 April 2014 in Athens, Greece at the Panathenaic Stadium where the first Olympic Games were held. Four young athletes from Greece and China competed in a mini-relay.

The torch relay was divided into two parts. The first part was a digital relay where people who downloaded an app were able to participate in the relay through an interactive option called "Give Me Fire." When using this feature users were able to pass the Youth Olympic flame to their friends by touching their devices together. The relay visited 258 different online locations from the 204 participating NOCs over a 98-day period.

After the digital relay the relay began its physical portion in Nanjing where a 10-day relay was held. 104 torch bearers carried the torch singularly or in pairs over 100 legs. Torch bearers were primarily focused on youth and included individuals from sport, culture, media, volunteers and the International Olympic Committee. Notable torch bearers included two time badminton Olympian gold medalist Lin Dan, 2008 Olympic fencing gold medalist Zhong Man, director Chen Weiya and composer Bian Liunian.

Sports

This is a tentative list of the sports program taken from the general presentation of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014. Golf and Rugby sevens will be contested for the first time. Beach volleyball will replace indoor volleyball and other format changes to sports like field hockey which introduced a five a side format. New events have also been introduced in some of the sports including a shooting mixed gender event among others.

Demonstration sports

These were the demonstration sports in the games:

Medal table

The NYOGOC did not keep an official medal tally. The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the IOC and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. For the full medal table, refer to the main article.

Medals won by teams with athletes from more than one National Olympic Committee are included in the table as medals awarded to a mixed-NOCs team. There were eight events which composed entirely of mixed-NOCs teams, and as such all 25 medals in these events, including two bronzes in judo, were swept by mixed-NOCs teams. The remaining medals were won in events which combined mixed-NOCs teams and teams representing one NOC. The mixed-NOCs listing is not given a ranking.

Alongside the mixed-NOCs teams, the top ten ranked NOCs are listed below. China (highlighted), as host nation, is also included in the table.

  Host nation (China)

Calendar

222 events are expected to be held over the 2014 Youth Olympics. The schedule will be finalized as the event becomes closer.

Participating nations

203 out of 204 nations competed. Both Sierra Leone and Nigeria were planning to participate, but on 13 August 2014 both nations pulled out due to pressure from Chinese Authorities in an attempt to prevent Ebola from West Africa from entering their nation. On 15 August 2014 Liberia also withdrew along with two athletes from Guinea being barred by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to fears that the nature of their sports (judo and swimming) could pose a risk to other athletes. An athlete from South Sudan will compete under the Olympic flag as they do not have a National Olympic Committee. The ten nations with the most athletes are China (with 123), Brazil (with 97), United States (with 92), Australia (with 89), Russia (with 88), Germany (with 85), Egypt (with 83), France (with 82), Japan (with 78), and Mexico (with 78).

Cultural and education program

Youth Olympic Games incorporate a Cultural and Education Program, featuring a variety of cultural and educational activities for young people. Youth Olympics include educational experience based on Olympic values that promote healthy lifestyles and allow young athletes to become well-rounded people with "true sporting spirits." Well-known athletes and "international specialists" guide the young participants. The program combines "Olympic traditions (such as the torch relay) with diverse cultures to spread the Olympic spirit."

Athlete role models

On 17 March 2014 37 athletes from the 28 Olympic sports were chosen by the IOC to be role models at the 2014 Youth Olympics. The athletes will offer support, mentor and advice to the participating youth Olympians. As an athlete role model they will take part in activities and workshops on healthy lifestyles, social responsibility and Olympism. They will also take part in informal chats known as "chat with champions." On 9 April 2014 and 22 April 2014 footballer Simone Farina and swimmer Patrick Murphy were appointed as the 38th and 39th Athlete Role Model respectively.

Young ambassadors

A total of 104 people were selected by their National Olympic Committee to be young ambassadors. Young Ambassadors are aged between 18 and 25 and are athletes, coaches, students or young professionals that demonstrate the Olympic values and inspire and empower young people to do the same.

The main roles of the Young Ambassadors is to promote the Youth Olympics in their nations and to encourage athletes of their nations to get the most out of the Youth Olympic experience by encouraging them to interact with people from different sports and cultures and to take part in activities and workshops.

A seminar has held from 25–28 March 2014 in order to prepare the ambassadors for the Youth Olympics by teaching them about the cultures and activities Nanjing has to offer.

Young reporters

Currently 30 reporters have been announced to take part of the Young Reporters program. Reporters between the ages of 18 and 24 were selected by the Continental Associations of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). Representation includes 4 reporters from each continent, 8 from China and 1 from the next Winter and Summer Youth Olympics.

As an initiative to encourage people worldwide to take part of the Youth Olympic spirit this program provides young reporters with a cross-platform journalist-training program and the opportunity for on-the-job experience at the Youth Olympics. The reporters will be able to work with highly qualified and renowned professionals in the fields of broadcast, print journalism, social media and photography.

Isolation and Barring of Nigerian Athletes in the Games

Following the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, Chinese officials quarantined and isolated all Nigerian athletes from all sporting facilities despite all testing negative to Ebola before the games. The Nigerian Olympic committee reacted to the discrimination by withdrawing all its athletes from the games.

Doping

One taekwondo athlete were disqualified on 5 November after testing positive for the banned diuretic furosemide.