Singapore, August 28 –  the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games – 12 days of world-class sporting competition and cultural and educational activities were a real success, as unanimously noted by the IOC, the organizers, the media and above all the participants and young people all over the world.

Some 3,600 athletes aged 14 to 18 took part in the Singapore 2010 Games. They were accompanied by 1,850 officials, and some 20,000 volunteers helped make the organisational aspect of the Games a success.

More than 500 Medals were awarded. They were won by nearly half of the nations and territories (93 of the 205 territories) taking part in the Games. Among the best European teams let us cite Ukraine, France and Italy.

The more than 50 Culture and Education Programme activities were extremely popular with the athletes, so much so that additional sessions were added by the organisers. One of the most well-received CEP events was the Chat With Champions session featuring Olympic champion pole vaulters Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbaeva,

Global interest in the Youth Olympic Games has been strong, with over 160 rights-holding broadcasters providing coverage and over 1,900 accredited international media in attendance in Singapore. Videos on the Youth Olympic Games Channel have been viewed over five million times, and at one point it was the third most watched YouTube channel worldwide. To date, 36 per cent of all viewers have been under the age of 24. The Games were also broadcast live online on the Singapore 2010 Official Webcasting Platform.

Congratulations to Singapore ! and good luck to Nankin (China) who will organize the 2014 event[].

Meanwhile, the first Winter Youth Olympic Games will take place in Innsbruck in 2012.