not known immediately who was the winner.Nevertheless, we decided to celebrate the moments ofvictory together! The most important thing was toshare our pleasure with each other. My aim is to talkabout this kind of experiences and encourage theyouth to live in the spirit of fair play."Other issues addressed include global matters suchas HIV& AIDS, voluntary blood donations, community-based first aid and children's rights. Young peopleaccount for 40 per cent of all new HIV infectionsglobally, and so the UNAIDS (Joint Programme of theUnited Nations on HIV & AIDS) booth concentrated oneducating the athletes on HIV/AIDS prevention through avariety of interactive games.Dawn Foreringham, the UNAIDS RegionalProgramme Advisor for Asia and Pacific, was anotherattendee who was impressed by the response fromthe young athletes."Our booth has been visited by about 100 people ?OLYMPIC REVIEW49OLYMPISM IN ACTIONthe world that they want to be part of something thatpromotes clean sport and that they believe in it,"explained David Julien, Education Manager at theWADA, whose booth featured a video game thattaught athletes about making the right choices whenfaced with drugs. "This could be the first time some of theseathletes have been exposed to doping control, so wewant their first anti-doping experience to be a positiveone so they can actually have fun."Olympian Tony Estanguet was one of severalAthlete Role Models in Singapore, and he was keen topromote fair play in sport, which was highlighted bythe CIFP on its booth."I think fair play is extremely important," said theFrenchman, a two-time Olympic champion incanoeing. "I experienced the real fair play spirit manytimes when I competed as a canoer. When I won goldat the Olympic Games in Athens, after the final it was"BY SETTING UP INTERACTIVEBOOTHS AND WORKSHOPS ATTHE HEART OF THE YOUTHOLYMPIC VILLAGE, THE AIM WASTO GIVE YOUNG ATHLETES ANEASILY ACCESSIBLE WAY OF GAINING A GREATER UNDER-STANDING OF THESE SIGNIFICANTGLOBAL ISSUES, WHICH AFFECTEACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM"Left Organisations such as UNICEF hadeducational booths at the Youth OlympicGames Above Athlete Role Model Pedro Yangshares his experience with the young athletes

50OLYMPIC REVIEWOLYMPISM IN ACTIONevery day and I am really pleasantly surprised at theresponse we got from athletes at the village," shesaid. "Sport is an incredible channel for getting HIVmessages out to young people. As well as theathletes, the volunteers working with us at the boothalso became hugely sensitised on HIV issues andwanted to spread the word further. Young people arechampions both on and off the field and theirleadership on HIV can have critical impact."The IFRC booth used the opportunity to educatethe young athletes about first aid techniques, disasterpreparedness and the global need for blood donations.Many athletes who attended the IFRC sessions werekeen to spread the messages that they had learnt."Donating blood is a moral responsibility of everyhuman being," said Dragana Volkanovska, a youngbadminton player from the Former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonia. "Blood is very much needed, especiallyin times of disasters and conflict. Everybody has togive at least once in a lifetime."At the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)booth, meanwhile, athletes were able to participate ina variety of activities and games, all of them focusingon the rights of children and on the conditionsrequired for them to reach their full capabilities. Thegames at the booth encouraged the youngsters toexpress their life stories, dreams and values in a funand interactive way. For instance, many athletes choseto design their own T-shirts with slogans such as "Youhave the right as a girl to play sports" or "It is yourturn to reach out to those in need". US ice hockey star Angela Ruggiero also acted asan Athlete Role Model in Singapore and the multi-Olympic medalist was pleased to see the YOG usingsport as a way of communicating important messagesto young athletes from around the world. "You can bevery focused as an athlete, so for the IOC to come inand give the young athletes this educational componentto add to their sports repertoire is amazing," she said."What this is doing is showing them that there areissues outside sport. The interactive element is fantasticas well and it's using all the things that are specific totheir age group."The success of the programme demonstrated theimportant role sport can play in educating young people."Sport is a powerful tool for reaching out to today'syouth on all continents and for educating them early onabout healthy and responsible behaviours," explainedIOC President Jacques Rogge before the first YOGbegan and, by the time the Closing Ceremony broughtthe Games to an end, it was clear that he was right. ?"AT THE UNICEF BOOTH, ATHLETESWERE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN AVARIETY OF ACTIVITIES AND GAMES,ALL OF THEM FOCUSING ON THERIGHTS OF THE CHILDREN AND ONTHE CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THEMTO REACH THEIR FULL CAPABILITIES"LeftThe colourful booths attracted, entertainedand engaged the young athletes