The arrival of the Youth Olympic Flame in Singapore was celebrated with great fanfare on Sunday evening by a 3,000-strong crowd at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Kent Ridge Campus.
UAE will be represented by five athletes in the August 14 to 26 Games. They are Haya Sameer Juma (taekwondo), Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah bin Majid Al Qasimi (equestrian), Salim Mattar Ali Rashid (shooting), Saif Ibrahim Al Hamadi (sailing) and Hanan Al Balushi (judo).
After a 15-day journey around the world, the President of Singapore, S R Nathan, lit the cauldron for the first time in Singapore under a shower of fireworks, marking the start of the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF) in the host city.
More than 700 performers put up a spectacular line-up of mass display performances which traced the Flame’s journey from Olympia to Singapore. Dancers were dressed in colourful costumes derivative of the cultures of each city on the route, expressing the spirit of international friendship in the Youth Olympic Games.
The Youth Olympic Flame was lit in Olympia, Greece on July 23, and travelled to Berlin (Germany), Dakar (Senegal), Mexico City (Mexico), Auckland (New Zealand) and Seoul (Republic of Korea) before arriving in Singapore.
Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) Ser Miang NG arrived aboard an open-top vehicle with the Youth Olympic Flame in a safety lantern.
The torch was lit and handed to President Nathan for the lighting of the cauldron. The Youth Olympic Flame blazed in the cauldron against the backdrop of 700 performers forming the Olympic rings on the university field, amidst cheers from the crowd.
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