By Leslie Tan
The race to host the first Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18 years old is coming down the final stretch and Moscow is making unsporting comments, saying that Singapore’s heat and humidity are big risk factors for youth athletes.
According to Reuters, a New York-based paediatric expert, Ljiljana Dimitrijevic, said: “Heat and humidity are definitely big risk factors and, taking into account that the games will be staged in the summer, Moscow looks a more preferable choice than Singapore,” she said.
Moscow city mayor Yuri Luzhkov also relocated the capital of China to South-East Asia in the same Reuters report published in the Guardian Unlimited when he said: “Beijing and Singapore are in Asia. To be more precise, they’re both located in South-East Asia. Still, people don’t question Singapore’s right to host the Youth Olympics just two years after Beijing.”
For once, Singapore does not get relocated to China as it so often happens in the past. While we can’t say Beijing would be thrilled, we should take it as a back-handed compliment that a mayor of an international city has placed the capital of a major world power to South-East Asia because of us.
Moscow hosted the 1980 Olympics which were boycotted by the United States and other countries because of Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Recently, Moscow lost the race to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to London. The Russian city of Sochin recently got the nod to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Instead of descending into a slanging match, let’s show the International Olympic Council (IOC) delegates that a vote for Singapore is a vote for sporting friendship. Let’s continue to show our support for the Youth Olympic Games in a positive way.
We are collecting 2010 signatures here at Red Sports to show our support for the Youth Olympic Games bid. Please do sign off to add your name to the growing list before February 21 at the following story: Show your support for Youth Olympic Games bid
So Singapore, what do you say?
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this is their own kind of opinion which cannot be avoided. other country will always say other people country in order to stand a higher chance to get the hold of the first YOGs. im sure Singaporeans have sportman ship so now lets not argue or qurrel bout this type of matter. let just wait for the results. SINGAPORE JIAYOUU!!!
The premise of your argument is self-contradictory.
To state at the outset that you do not believe in the history of Singapore is to say that what you write cannot be believed at face value either if you wish to be consistent and fair.
Ex Ni Hilo, Ni Hil Fit.
hahahahaha at least the Russians dont rewrite history. I’ve go with them any day.
“Moscow takes cheap shot at Singapore in race for Youth Olympic Games”
Not to sound anti-climax. Well, our esteemed leader also does this type of things to some of our neighbours too. Sometimes, we really need to look at ourselves first. This is not the first time we are being “talked down”, eg. red dot, pee sai etc.
Singapore has been winners and losers before. It is just part and parcel of being in this game. Moscow is just trying to infleuence the IOC committee with such talk.
errmm… luckily for the Moscow Mayor that he’s not taking part in a geography quiz. When was Beijing/China ever considered part of South-East Asia? Or is he trying to imply that Singapore is part of China? lol
haha, what a flawed argument, if that’s the case, the very act of doing sports in Singapore would not be beneficial to our children!
truly remarkable journalism and politics.. thanks for pointing it out Les!
To me if athletes can’t even take a little heat then what’s the point of having sports? Sports are MEANT for us to have fun in the sun and sweat a little, it’s what makes the sport fun!
[…] The race to host the Youth Olympic Games has come down to Singapore and Moscow. The competition is getting hotter, what with Moscow’s mayor and others weighing in on the subject. […]