By Leonard Lim
THERE were winners and there were losers, there were tears of pride and of frustration, there were temporary bruises and memories for life.
But above all, history was made yesterday as the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) got under way.The eyes of 18-year-old triathlete Yuka Sato welled as the majestic strains of Japan’s national anthem filled the air at East Coast Park in the morning.
She will be forever remembered as the first YOG gold medallist.
“It felt a bit like I was dreaming,” the beaming teenager said later of her time on the podium’s top step.
“I knew this would be the first contest in the Youth Olympics, which really got me motivated to go for gold.”
Of the 15 gold medals on offer yesterday, eight were won by Asian nations.
China, which will host the next YOG in 2014, led the way, finishing at the top of the medal pile with three golds after Day 1.
It was not without poignancy.
In the morning, China’s athletes and officials devoted a moment of silence to the victims of the Aug 8 landslide in Zhouqu county in Gansu province that left at least 1,200 people dead and 500 missing.
At the Toa Payoh Sports Hall, diminutive Chinese weightlifter Tian Yuan set two youth world records en route to winning her country’s first gold, in the girls’ 48kg category.
Other countries were also engrossed in the performances of their athletes. The BBC hailed British tennis player Oliver Golding’s “superb start” in tennis after he beat top seed Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. The Jakarta Globe celebrated the way Indonesian shuttlers “flexed their muscles” by winning every one of their matches. The Philippines had to defend one of their taekwondo exponents after Kirk Barbosa slammed his headgear on the floor after losing to Gili Haimovitz of Israel.
“Young athletes are emotional,” said Chief of Mission Mark Joseph.
“But he gave it his best and he kept on fighting even when the odds were stacked against him.”
Singapore had a heart-breaking opening day, with swimmer Rainer Ng missing out on a place in the boys’ 100m backstroke final by 0.03sec.
The other YOG golds yesterday were won by South Korea (fencing), Italy (fencing), Vietnam (weightlifting), the United States (swimming), Russia (wrestling and taekwondo), Israel (taekwondo), Azerbaijan (two in wrestling), Kazakhstan (wrestling) and Kyrgyzstan (wrestling).
Meanwhile, one of the YOG’s marquee draws, world champion diver Tom Daley of Britain, may not compete in Singapore after withdrawing from the European Championships over the weekend due to an injury.The 16-year-old will decide whether or not to compete after arriving here tomorrow.
There are 19 golds on offer today, in sports like swimming, fencing, weightlifting and boys’ triathlon.
More importantly, there are more memories to be made.
