YOG 2010: Rogge claims Youth Olympics exceeded his expectations

From Tom Reynolds, Sportsbeat, in Singapore

HIS predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, traditionally used his closing ceremony address to declare the Olympics just passed as the best Games ever (except in Atlanta).

HAPPY MAN: Jacques Rogge is delighted with the success of the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, which concluded with a closing ceremony today (Singapore Press Holdings)

Jacques Rogge has never followed that lead but you could forgive him the desire to make the comment at the conclusion of the Youth Olympic Games - overlooking the fact these were also the first Games ever.

Rogge has invested much personal capital in the success of his YOG vision, a junior Olympiad for athletes aged between 14 and 18.

And he is right to allow himself a small self-satisfied smile at tonight's closing ceremony.

"We are extremely pleased with this inaugural Youth Olympic Games, hats off to Singapore who has organised this in little over two years time, taking into consideration these Games are 25-30 percent of the traditional Games," he said.

"We had world-class sport, we were very pleased to see the athletes embrace the cultural and education programme.

"We were also very pleased about the universality of the Games, 93 national Olympic committees won medals and new countries on the podium is very important to us.

"This was also the first time a Saudi woman has participated in an international event and this calls for more and I think they will enter women at the London 2012 Olympics.

"Overall it has vastly exceeded my highest expectations. I knew it would be well organised but I did not expect this level of perfection. Of course we are not complacent, we will learn a lot from these Games."

First on the agenda for Rogge - ahead of the next edition in Nanjing in 2014 - will be persuading more of the world's top teen athletes to view the Youth Olympics as the pinnacle age group event.

He will also look at seeing how some of formats used for the first time in Singapore - including mixed team competitions - can be introduced at the senior Olympics, starting at Rio 2016.

The success of the 3 on 3 basketball competition - the hottest ticket in Singapore - is already being closely examined by world governing body Fiba, who believe a shortened form of the sport could prove as popular as cricket's Twenty20 and rugby sevens.