The Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018
came to an end on Thursday 18 October, with the Youth Olympic Village
providing the setting for an intimate Closing Ceremony full of colour
and spectacle.
Addressing the athletes assembled in front of the stage,
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said: “And now I
have a sad duty to fulfil, because now I have to say a sentence which we
may not like. But it’s time for me to say that I declare closed the
third Youth Olympic Games, Buenos Aires 2018. Muchas gracias Argentina.
Nos vemos en Senegal!”
And with that, the Youth Olympic flame was extinguished in the
cauldron in the Youth Olympic Park, an image relayed to the athletes on a
big screen.
IOC/OIS
The third Summer Youth Olympic Games proved to be a record breaker,
as a grand total of 1,001,496 spectators attended the 12-day celebration
of sport, from the Opening Ceremony at the Argentinian capital’s famous
Obelisk through to the last of the events. It was a figure that
exceeded the attendance at both Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.
“It was a fantastic Youth Olympic Games,” said Bach, addressing the
athletes. “For me the best thing was to follow you, to watch you in all
your competitions. And I would like to say thank you, dear athletes, for
your great performances, for your fair play, for your Olympic spirit.
You were really the best.”
Taking his turn to speak, Local Organising Committee President
Gerardo Werthein said: “I would like to congratulate all the athletes.
Our volunteers did a fantastic job too.”
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Flagbearers from the 206 national delegations paraded as part of the
farewell celebrations, while the contribution of the more than 10,000
volunteers was also recognised. Gisella Bonomi and Richard Kierkegaard,
two members of the 142-strong Argentina team, also read a pledge on
behalf of all the athletes.
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The highpoint of the ceremony came with the handover from Buenos
Aires to Dakar, the capital of Senegal, which will host the next Summer
Youth Olympic Games in 2022. The moment was symbolised by Horacio
Rodríguez Larreta, the mayor of Buenos Aires, handing the Olympic flag
to Bach, who in turn passed it on Soham El Wardini, the mayor of Dakar.
IOC/OIS
Fireworks filled the night sky above Buenos Aires as the ceremony
came to an end, bringing a colourful and spectacular conclusion to what
has been a truly colourful and spectacular Youth Olympic Games.
Gold medals were awarded in the women’s kumite +59kg, men’s kumite
-68kg and men’s kumite +68kg categories. Norway’s Annika Saelid,
Belgium’s Quentin Mahauden, and Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navid
Mohammadi were the respective gold medallists at the Youth Olympic
Park’s Europe Pavilion, which once again drew large crowds for a second
intense day of karate action.
Saelid won her gold at the expense of Japan’s Sakura Sawashima, the
Norwegian compiling a 3-0 victory in a competition in which the bronzes
went to Great Britain’s Lauren Salisbury and Islamic Republic of Iran’s
Negin Altooni.
“It’s completely different at the Youth Olympic Games,” said
Salisbury when asked for her view on competing in the Olympic spotlight.
“Everything is focused on one mat and you don’t normally get that, even
in a world or European championships. All eyes are on one match.”
IOC
Looking ahead to the possibility of competing on home soil in two
years’ time, Sawashima said: “I am very happy Tokyo is hosting karate
at the Olympics. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to participate in
the Olympics, but I’m going to try. At the same time I feel pressure
because it’s quite a challenge, but I have always enjoyed this sport.”
Belgium’s Mahauden beat Morocco’s Yassine Sekouri by a narrow 1-0
margin to secure the men’s -68kg gold. Kazakhstan’s Abilmansur Batyrgali
and Italy’s Rosario Ruggiero shared the bronzes.
Highlighting the camaraderie among the athletes, the Belgian said:
“We forget the friendships for two minutes, but afterwards it is a
different game.”
Mohammadi claimed the sixth and final karate gold of Buenos Aires
2018 courtesy of an emphatic 5-0 defeat of Morocco’s Nabil Ech-Chaabi in
the men’s +68kg final, with Ireland’s Sean McCarthy Crean and Turkey’s
Enes Bulut sharing the last place on the podium.
With the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 less than two years out and following its renewal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through 2032, Worldwide TOP Partner Visa
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we know that no matter where in the world the Olympic Games take us,
Visa is the right partner to help us deliver them.”
For more than 30 years, Visa has been the exclusive payment partner
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together Visa and the IOC will tap into the network of resident
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to continue this important innovation.
Visa
How will the fans of the future consume the Games?
This vision was brought to life at a media event in Beijing, where
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Visa’s Everywhere Initiative in Japan
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Visa and the Olympic Games
Visa International has been a Worldwide Olympic Partner since 1986,
when the company joined the TOP Programme as a charter member. Visa is
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They have won medal after medal. They have led the way in new disciplines, some of which will appear on the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020. And they have thrilled the large crowds that have filled every arena. They are the stars of the third Summer Youth Olympic Games, staged for the first time and with great success in South America.
The most prominent heroes of the latest edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games, held in the Argentinian capital, were the local fans. They packed the stands at every venue, created a wonderful atmosphere and deafening noise, and were hailed by all the young athletes, who were pleasantly amazed to receive their wholehearted support, regardless of which part of the world they hailed from. The success of South America’s first YOG belongs to them, and also to the army of volunteers who ensured the competitions all ran smoothly.
In the sporting arena itself, the young athletes showed that they have rich promise and bright futures ahead of them when they embark on their careers at the very highest level, which some of them have already reached. Shining bright among them was Japan’s Takeru Kitazono, who lit up the men’s artistic gymnastic competitions and won no fewer than five gold medals to announce himself as the heir to the throne of Kohei Uchimura, regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. “I am definitely planning to be at Tokyo 2020 and to achieve the same level of performance. I am going to step up my training with that goal in mind,” said the Japanese phenomenon, who celebrates his 16th birthday on 21 October.
IOC / OIS
Russia’s leading swimmers also showed an appetite for gold medals. Six each went to Kliment Kolesnikov, who won every individual men’s backstroke event, and team-mate Andrei Minakov, who was in a class of his own in the butterfly races and also won the 100m freestyle. The duo also won all the men’s and mixed relay events with their Russian team-mates, all of them, that is, except the mixed 4x100m medley relay, in which they finished second to China.
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Also turning in a series of dominant performances was the Chinese diver Shan Lin, who claimed every gold available to her: the women’s 3m springboard, the women’s 10m platform and the mixed international team competition with Colombia’s Daniel Restrepo. And what of Italian equestrian athlete Giacomo Casadei, who got the most out of his mount Darna Z, allocated to him in the pre-competition draw? He did not incur a single fault in contesting two rounds and a jump-off as Europe 1 collected silver in the jumping international team competition and in contesting another two rounds and a jump-off in winning jumping individual gold.
IOC / OIS
Who could forget the extraordinary goalscoring feats of Portuguese futsal sensation Ana Sofia Gonçalves, better known as Fifó? She scored 21 goals in all in the women’s competition, including all four of her side’s goals as they beat Japan in the final. Egypt’s young modern pentathletes were also on top of their game: Salma Abdelmaksoud and Ahmed Elgendy respectively won the women’s and men’s individual titles, with Elgendy then joining forces with China’s Yewen Gu to land the mixed international team relay gold.
The heroes of Buenos Aires 2018 also include the Argentinian athletes who brought the home fans to their feet by winning gold. Among them were the men’s rugby sevens and basketball 3x3 teams and the women's hockey5s and beach handball; Maria Sol Ordas, who won the host nation’s first gold medal of Buenos Aires 2018 in the women’s single sculls (rowing); and the cape-wearing superhero Fausto Ruesga, who defied gravity and gave free rein to his imagination in taking the men’s dunk contest honours.
IOC / OIS
The events of the future
The last group of heroes of the first gender-equal YOG, which saw the same number of male and female athletes take part and a very large number of mixed competitions, are the athletes who led the way for the sports and disciplines that will make their first appearance at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (among them basketball 3x3, karate, sport climbing and BMX freestyle), and the disciplines of the future, which enjoyed such spectacular success at their Buenos Aires testing ground.
Breaking, the urban, hip hop offshoot of dance sports, set pulses racing in the Argentinian capital over four enthralling days of competition, which saw B-Girl Ram of Japan win the women’s event as well as the mixed event and Russia’s B-Boy Bumblebee the men’s.
Getty Images
The future also looks bright for futsal, kiteboarding, beach handball, acrobatic gymnastics, roller speed skating, and hockey5s. In terms of events, it also promises much for the exciting, all new gymnastics multidiscipline team and badminton relay team competitions.
The Buenos Aires 2018 programme brought glory to a large number of mixed teams, many of them made up of athletes from different countries. They all had fun. They all made friends. They all enjoyed this new way of winning medals. And they all gave a glimpse of the future; while mixed-NOC events are a unique feature of the YOG, mixed-gender events are now set to become an integral part of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games programmes.
