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City Of Sails To Host Inaugural Youth Olympic Flame
Auckland is one of just five cities selected by the International Olympic Committee to host the Youth Olympic Flame as makes its way from Greece to Singapore for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in August 2010. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games are a first for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as it launches its new initiative to inspire young people to participate in sport, culture and education programmes and to live by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. New Zealand will send a team of up to 140 athletes and officials. "The Youth Olympic Games are unique," said New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) secretary general Barry Maister. "They are about bringing our best young sports people together to celebrate sport, learn and share the Olympic spirit with top young athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees around the world. We are delighted to have the opportunity help young athletes boost their careers in a major multi-sport competition as well as highlight the importance of being a well-rounded sportsperson.." New Zealand's youth Olympians will be aged between 14 and 18 years old and will compete in a selection of summer Olympic sports. International Federations are currently compiling qualification criteria and, in some cases, new formats. "The Youth Olympic Games are a unique opportunity to trial new formats. Men's basketball for example, will bring the three on three street game to the Youth Olympic Games," continued Mr Maister. New Zealand will celebrate the arrival of the Youth Olympic Flame on 31st July* with a formal welcome on behalf of the New Zealand Olympic Committee and the people of Oceania. A city celebration will also be held to commemorate the arrival of the flame and the naming of the Youth Olympic Team on 1 August 2010*. The Youth Olympic Flame will then depart on 2nd August enroute to Seoul and Singapore, ahead of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on 14th August 2010. The multi-cultural city of Auckland will represent the continent of Oceania as one of the stops for the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF) after it is lit in Greece in July 2010. The other city representatives are Berlin (Germany) for Europe, Dakar (Senegal) for Africa, Mexico City (Mexico) for the Americas and Seoul (Korea) for Asia. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will be held from 14 to 26 August 2010. More than 5,000 athletes and officials from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will take part in the Games, along with an estimated 1,200 media representatives, 20,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 spectators. About the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame To celebrate the first-ever Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame will blaze a trail across the world to one city each on the continents of Europe, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Asia, connecting the people of the world to the Olympic movement and uniting them in celebration of the spirit of Olympism. Starting in July 2010, the Youth Olympic Flame will be lit in Greece, and then journey to Berlin (Germany), Dakar (Senegal), Mexico City (Mexico), Auckland (New Zealand) and Seoul (Korea). At each of the city, a City Celebration will be held for the people of the city and continent to celebrate the arrival of the Youth Olympic Flame and the world’s first YOG. The Flame will arrive in Singapore for a six-day round-island torch relay before it lights the cauldron at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, to mark the start of the first YOG. For more information on JYOF and Singapore 2010, please visit www.singapore2010.sg. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Olympic E-Zine"OLYMPIC REVIEW" - Official publication of the Olympic movement. Youth Olympic Games 2010Singapore will host the first summer Youth Olympic Games in August 2010. Modern Pentathlon will be competed 21 & 22 August for the individal competitions and 24 August for the relay competition. Qualification for the Youth Olympic Games commences at the end of 2009. Each Continent will host a qualification competition from which the competitors will be selected. Further information on the qualification system can be downloaded at the top right of this page. Olympic Games Beijing 2008The Modern Pentathlon event was held 21 (men) and 22 (women) August at three locations within the Olympic Park in Beijing. The day began at the National Conference Center Fencing Hall with the shooting and fencing disciplines. For the 200m swim, athletes and spectators alike, moved to the Yingtung Natatorium before the final stop of the day at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium where the riding and running events took place and the final placings for the medals were determined. In the Men's competition, the gold medal went to Andrei Moiseev (RUS), who became a two-time medallist having previously been crowned Olympic Champion in 2004 (Athens). Silver and bronze were awarded to Edvinas Krungolcas and Andrejus Zadneprovskis, both from Lithuania, making it a very successful day for their nation! The following day, Lena Schöneborn of Germany delighted the crowd with her gold medal performance, with Heather Fell (GBR) taking the silver and continuing Great Britain's tradition of medalling at the Olympic's womens event, while Viktoria Tereshuk (UKR) completed the podium with bronze. For more detailed review of the competition days, download the press releases and visit the Photo Gallery
History of Modern Pentathlon in the Olympic GamesThe Pentathlon (consisting of running the length of the stadium, jumping, throwing the spear, throwing the discus and wrestling) was introduced for the first time at the 18th Olympiad in 708 BC and held a position of unique importance in the Games. It was considered to be the climax, with the winner ranked as "Victor Ludorum". Admiration for the Ancient Pentathlon was fully shared by the founder of the Modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin and from 1909 he tried to have the event re-introduced into the Olympic programme. Modern Pentathlon was introduced at the 5th Olympiad in Stockholm (SWE) 1912, comprising the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running, which embraced the spirit of its ancient counterpart.
From 1912 to 1980 the Olympic Modern Pentathlon competition was held over five days with one event per day. Between 1984 and 1992, the competition was held over four days with either running and shooting or swimming and shooting on the same day. For the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, the competition was a one-day event in which 32 men who qualified via pre-Olympic competitions participated. In 1998, the UIPM received approval for women to compete in the Sydney 2000 Olympics Games and so 24 men and 24 women competed in individual competition and for the first time in history, the Pentathlon venues were 96% sold out. UIPM subsequently received an increase in the quota and in Athens 2004, 32 men and 32 women competed and both competitions were 100% sold-out. Following this success, UIPM received in February 2006 a further increase in quota from the IOC Executive Board – in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, 36 men and 36 Women took part in the Olympic Modern Pentathlon.
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