Opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the Games was held on at
The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage near
downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a backdrop of the city's skyline. Event tickets cost between S$30 and S$200. The show, the largest ever held by the city, involved over 750 hours of rehearsals. Over 7,000 performers, mostly under the age of 18, took part in the ceremony. At the centre of the stage was the tall Olympic cauldron designed by
Randy Chan as a lighthouse. It was flanked by six giant
LED displays, which stood behind a reflecting pool containing of water. Following pre-show warm-up and a countdown led by children and young drummers, the show began proper at 20:10 hrs (
UTC+8)—a reference to the year of the event—with a fireworks show, followed by a cultural segment titled "" that featured
Chinese,
Malay and
Indian performers. The segment ended with performances by homegrown artistes of
Eurasian and
Peranakan heritage, symbolising the mixture of tradition and modernity in Singapore. Audience members were greeted with pre-recorded messages from several Olympic ambassadors: Olympians
Usain Bolt,
Michael Phelps and
Yelena Isinbayeva, members of the band
Thirty Seconds to Mars, and actors
Jackie Chan and
Jet Li. The
flag of Singapore entered the stage with the
Deyi Military Band, who had won the Display Band of the Year Award and Best Drum Major of the Year Award in the
Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging Display Band Competition 2010, performing "Five Stars Arising", and the
national anthem while the flag was raised. Reflecting the theme of global co-operation, members of the World Youth Orchestra of the Singapore Games performed an orchestral piece featuring various instruments from around the world. The orchestra was led by
Darrell Ang, the young associate conductor of the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The following segment, titled "Bud", depicted rain as a symbol of hope and rejuvenation. Ending the show segment of the ceremony were singers Marcus Lee of
Ex-Dee and Lian Kim Selby, performing the song "A New Story", which was commissioned for the event. Their performance was accompanied by a fashion show organized by students from
LASALLE College of the Arts. s Each flag of the National Olympic Committees represented was brought on stage by an athlete representative. Following Olympic tradition, the flag of
Greece entered first as the originator of the games, and the flag of
Singapore entered last as the host nation. The flag ceremony was followed by the singing of the Games theme song and remarks by
Ng Ser Miang, Chairman of the
Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, and
Jacques Rogge, President of the
International Olympic Committee. The Singapore Games were then officially declared opened by
S.R. Nathan, the
President of Singapore. The Olympic flag was brought on stage by eight Olympians—
Tan Howe Liang,
Yelena Isinbayeva,
Yang Yang, Tan Eng Liang,
Frankie Fredericks,
Patricia Chan,
Tao Li and
Sergey Bubka—and handed to eight Singaporean youth athletes before it was raised with the singing of the
Olympic Hymn in Greek by the Singaporean singers. The
Olympic Oath was taken on behalf of all athletes by
Caroline Chew, on behalf of all judges by
Syed Abdul Kadir, and on behalf of all coaches by
David Lim Fong Jock. Finally, a boat in the shape of a phoenix carried the
Youth Olympic Flame across
Marina Bay and was passed between six Singaporean youth athletes in a relay. Sailor Darren Choy was the final torchbearer and lit the cauldron.
Calendar The calendar of the Games was as follows:
Participating National Olympic Committees Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee Sports The Games featured 26 sports with a total of 31 disciplines and 201 events. Within the 201 events, there were 8 mixed team events (Mixed-NOCs), 4 mixed team events (NOCs), 1 open event (Equestrian), 106 men's events, and 82 women's events. These included two disciplines under the IOC classification of
aquatics (diving and swimming), and three under
gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and trampoline). Each sport in the Games was represented by a pictogram inspired by the official "Spirit of Youth" emblem consisting of a red flame, a blue star and a green crescent, which was depicted participating in each of the 26 sports of the Youth Olympic Games. The sport pictograms had a distinctive, contemporary graphic style that was intended to make them a highly recognisable feature of the Games. The list of sports is as follows: About 3,600 athletes, aged 14 to 18, participated in the Games. however, three Kuwaiti athletes competed under the
Olympic flag. A unique feature of the YOG was the creation of the
mixed-NOCs team event. To foster friendship among participants, teams were formed by athletes from different countries to compete on an intercontinental basis. Mixed-NOC sports included equestrian-jumping, fencing, judo, modern pentathlon, and triathlon. There were eight events which composed entirely of mixed-NOCs teams, and as such all 25 medals in these events, including two bronzes in judo, were swept by mixed-NOCs teams. The first gold medal of the Games was awarded to 18-year-old Japanese
triathlete Yuka Sato, who won the
girls' event on 15 August. Host nation Singapore's first medal was a bronze in
taekwondo for Daryl Tan on 16 August. The first gold medal for a mixed-NOC event was awarded to team Europe 1, consisting of Yana Egoryan of
Russia and
Italians Marco Fichera Marco, Camilla Mancini, Leonardo Affede, Alberta Santuccio Alberta and Eduardo Luperi, which won the team competition in
fencing.
Culture and Education Programme countdown clock at the corner of Orchard Road and Scotts Road The IOC set a vision for the YOG to be an event comprising a balance of sports, culture and education. The objective of the Culture and Education Programme (CEP) that athletes participated in was to educate, engage and influence the athletes to develop true sportsmanship and to live by the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship, while having fun at the same time. To promote cultural education among the participating youths, the YOG programme incorporated live youth performances, art installations and festivals revolving around the Olympics spirit and cultural diversity. A wide range of activities took place, such as hands-on workshops, talks by Olympians, outdoor activities, community projects and exhibition booths, all based on five themes: It subsequently closed for renovations from 18 August till the end of 2010.
Closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the Games was held on 26 August at The Float@Marina Bay. The show began proper at 8pm Singapore time with youths, cheerleaders and the YOG mascots
Lyo and Merly dancing to a medley of "
Fame" and "
Fight for This Love". Following the arrival of IOC President
Jacques Rogge and Prime Minister of Singapore
Lee Hsien Loong, 12-year-old
Nathania Ong led the choir and the audience in singing the national anthem of Singapore. In the next segment "Blazing the Trail", 5 young singers performed an upbeat song while students dressed to resemble the "Spirit of Youth", the Singapore 2010 emblem, performed a mass display item. Following the item, the athletes and the flags representing all competing nations made their way onto the floating platform. A short clip showing the highlights of the games was then shown on the LED screens on the stage, accompanied by singer Heleyana-Ann Lachica Fernandez and a trio of musicians performing "A New Story". The Protocol segment followed the performances. A tribute was made to the 20,000 volunteers who participated in the Games, with Singapore swimmer Rainer Ng making a short speech thanking the volunteers and eight other athletes presenting bouquets to eight representative volunteers. The Youth Olympic Flame was then finally extinguished to the sounds of a flugelhorn. A Celebration Concert marked the end of the show with songs and performances from local artistes. ==Medal table==