Zim to attend YOG meeting in Algeria

ZIMBABWE will later this month join other Chef de Missions in Algeria in preparation for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) that will be held in BuenosAires, Argentina, from October 6-18.

The meeting will discuss the final sport codes as well as the number of athletes in view of the milestone development in the Olympic movement where there will be an equal number of female and male athletes. Zimbabwe will be represented by its Chef de Mission and rugby administrator Sebastian Garikai.

Four new sports, sport climbing, dance sport, karate and roller sports, will be making their debut on the Olympic stage.

They will join 28 other sports that featured at the previous edition of the YOG in Nanjing in 2014. The inclusion of these new sports on the YOG programme, not to mention the appearance of new events and competition formats such as BMX freestyle, kite boarding, futsal and beach handball, serves to highlight the role of the YOG as an event where innovations of the Olympic Movement can be put to the test.

This year’s YOG, which is for athletes aged 15-18 years, will see 3 998 youngsters from 206 countries competing in 32 sport codes.

The YOG are the world’s largest multi-sport event for high-performance young athletes, which is aimed at inspiring athletes to embrace the Olympic values of respect, friendship, and excellence.

The event is promoted by the International Olympic Committee and is held every four years. It also has two editions, winter and summer, which are held every two years alternately.

Off the sports field, athletes also participate in various educational and cultural activities with spectators that promote Olympism.

The Buenos Aires 2018 YOG’s vision is “to celebrate the best games by the youth for the youths, for the neighbourhoods, for Buenos Aires, for Argentina and for the world”. — @skhumoyo2000