유스올림픽(Youth Olympic Games:YOG)창시자, 로게 IOC위원장의 소견과 배경은?

자크 로게 IOC위원장은 20년 전 유럽올림픽위원회(EOC)회장 시절 유럽 청소년 올림픽 페스티발(EOYF: European Olympic Youth Festival)을 창시하였다.
2001년 IOC위원장으로 선출되고 나서 그는 전 세계 청소년들이 스포츠를 통한 건전한 삶의 방식을 실천하여 더 나은(better), 더 밝은(brighter), 더 건강한(healthier)미래를 계획하자는 비전을 제시하고 있다.
지난 8월14일 제1회 싱가폴 유스올림픽개막을 앞두고 가진 8월13일 외신 기자회견에서 "첫 출산을 분만대기실에서 기다리는 아비의 심정"(feels like an expectant father waiting in the delivery room for the first birth to happen)이라고 토로하기도 하였다.  


“You will learn the difference between winning and being a champion," said IOC President Jacques Rogge. (ATR)
 
YOG는 약 3년 전 자크 로게의 주도로 결실을 맺은 IOC위원장의 아기(baby)인 셈이다.
10대(14세-18세)를 겨냥한 이벤트로써 YOG는 청소년들에게 스포츠정신과 올림픽이상(Olympic ideals)그리고 삶의 지혜를 깨닫개 해주는 기술(life skills)을 동시에 교육하는 방법을 제시해 주고자 고안되었다.
제1회 싱가폴 유스올림픽에는 전 세계 205개국으로부터 3,000며의 선수가 참가함으로써 2008년 베이징 올림픽 때보다 1개국이 더 참가하고 있다.

자크 로게 IOC위원장은 외신기자회견에서 전 세계 청소년들의 올림픽에 대한 흥미가 떨어직 있다(the interest of young people in the Olympics is declining)라는 믿음에 동조하지 않으며(he does not subscribe to the belief) IOC의 자체분석에 의하면 오히려 청소년들이 강력한 수준의 관심을 나타내고 있다라고 강조하였다.

다음은 로게 IOC위원장이 올림픽과 YOG에 대한 소신이 담긴 글이다.

When the first Olympic Games of the modern era opened in Athens in 1896 with just 241
competitors and few spectators, its future was not as assured as hindsight would now
suggest. Indeed, the Athens Games attracted athletes from just 14 nations, with the largest
delegations coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. The Games were a
very different offering from the global phenomenon we see today, which has become a
regular fixture in all our sporting and social calendars.
It took another 28 years before the Winter Games joined its older twin brother as a
regular event. And now we expect to see Games alternatively every two years, but this
wasn’t always the case; just as the sporting programme has continued to evolve, the
Olympic Games themselves as a global spectacle were not always guaranteed.
In just a few days time, we will see the first ever edition of the Youth Olympic
Games, a worthy addition to the Olympic stable. And just as the Olympic programme has
never been set in stone and has continued to change and reflect changing attitudes to sport
and society, so we will see some interesting innovations and events that have never
appeared before on an Olympic programme. There will be new formats like street
basketball, relay races in the pool and triathlon with mixed gender teams, there will be
even competitions with mixed teams from different nationalities. All these are designed to
appeal to a younger audience and inspire the young athletes. But whatever the changes
and experiments, what is more important and what is at the centre of the Youth Olympic
Games is of course the focus on young athletes. So why the very deliberate concentration
on youth?
As organisers of the largest sporting event in the world, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) understands that it has a responsibility to prepare young athletes for
their future. Indeed, this was one of the pillars upon which IOC founder Pierre de
Coubertin built the modern Olympic Games the turn of the 20th century.
Sport itself is a great educational tool for young people. It strengthens their bodies
as well as their minds, teaches them discipline, and encourages them to set goals and
achieve them. But it would be irresponsible for the sports world to take a laissez-faire
approach to its young athletes by simply hoping that the act of taking part in sport will
give them the abilities they require to face and overcome obstacles both on and off the
field of play.
The Youth Olympic Games, which will take place from 14 to 26 August in
Singapore, will be about staging high-level competition in 26 sports while providing
guidance and encouragement to some 3,600 of the world’s best athletes between the ages
of 14 and 18.
In addition to two weeks of first-class competition, the athletes will take part in a
wide range of cultural and educational activities aimed at equipping them with the skills to
make reasoned, intelligent decisions in life. The programme will last the duration of the
Games and cover a host of topics, including the benefits of leading healthy lifestyles, the
dangers of doping, and the value of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
We want to provide the athletes with the tools to take ownership of their futures. If
they choose to continue with sport as a career — some may even go on to become future
Olympians — they must be fully aware it is not a lifetime occupation. Even the greatest
athletes typically end their sporting careers in their 30s.
Communicating with athletes in their teens, who are potentially more receptive than
their elder peers, is crucial.
The key is to present the information in a manner that the athletes find both
enjoyable and relevant to their lives. At the end of the day, success rests on how much the
athletes are willing to accept and embrace the information they receive.
As such, we are reaching out in the most modern and interactive ways possible. The
Youth Olympic Games has a strong and growing presence on social media platforms such
as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. We have created contests that challenge the online
community to move away from their computer screens and get active. We have enlisted
some of the world’s top athletes, including Usain Bolt, Yelena Isinbaeva and Michael
Phelps, to support the athletes by acting as role models and sharing their experiences and
insights.
Above all, the Youth Olympic Games and the cultural and educational activities
must be fun. We want to encourage youngsters to strive to be the best they can but also to
enjoy sport for sport’s sake and to continue enjoying it long after dreams of medals have
faded. The Youth Olympic Games will give the athletes a chance to compete, to learn and
to share experiences with other young people. It is our great hope that the athletes will act
as ambassadors and be active in their communities by sharing what they learn when they
return home from Singapore.
If the Youth Olympic Games can help provide the world’s youth, one athlete at a
time, with a path to better, brighter, healthier futures, we will have succeeded. And very
soon the Youth Olympic Games will become as much an indispensible fixture of the
Olympic calendare as its 'grown-up' brothers.


By Jacques Rogge, President of the international Olympic Committee