Rogge's rosy look at future

The IOC president backs event in Singapore and says says that the Youth Games will become 'indispensable' like its 'grown-up brothers'.

The Youth Olympics, which open in Singapore tomorrow, will feature 3,600 competitors aged 14 to 18 from 204 countries.

SINGAPORE // Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, expects the Youth Olympics to overcome spiralling costs and the so-far subdued fan enthusiasm and evolve into one of the world's premier sporting events. The Youth Olympics, which open in Singapore tomorrow and run until August 26, will feature about 3,600 competitors aged 14 to 18 from 204 countries competing in the same 26 sports as the summer Olympics programme.

"Very soon, the Youth Olympic Games will become as much an indispensable fixture of the Olympic calendar as its grown-up brothers," Rogge wrote in the days leading up to the inaugural event. Cost estimates for the event have skyrocketed. The IOC projected in 2007 the Youth Games would cost US$30 million (Dh110m) to stage but by the time Singapore won its bid in 2008, the budget was up to $76m. The government said in July it expects a final bill of $287m.

The organising committee for the London 2012 Olympics has a budget of $3billion. The overall construction and infrastructure budget for London 2012 is more than $14 billion. For Singapore, the Youth Games are part of a strategy to diversify its economy toward tourism and services and away from manufacturing. The opening of two casino resorts and the staging of the first annual night race for Formula One in 2008 have helped attract record tourist arrivals.

But ticket sales for the Youth Games have been sluggish despite aN $8.9m government publicity campaign featuring large billboards around the city that encouraged neighbourhoods to celebrate the Games. Organisers, though, are confident of a successful games, expecting interest to pick up once competition starts. "The IOC president took a great risk to organise these Games and bet on its future," Gilbert Felli, the IOC Olympic Games executive director told reporters earlier this week in Singapore. "The world is going to look at it and see if it works or not."

Australian athletes hope that Singapore, a destination used by tens of thousands of their compatriots en route to Europe each year, acts as a springboard in their aspirations to compete at the London Olympics. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has hosted national youth festivals in recent years, which have launched some Olympic careers. "It's not only a pathway for competition but an opportunity to help prepare young athletes for a lot of experiences," John Coates, the AOC president said. The Youth Olympics "are going to have a big element of education, learning about Olympic values, life skills and values and those sorts of things, an anti-doping message. We're very interested to see how it all goes."

That is something organisers and supporters agree will be part of the success of the event, rather than the financial bottom line. * Associated Press