Rider al-Qadi to lead Qatari athletes in opening ceremony

The mascot of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games is Nanjinglele and is inspired by the Rain Flower Pebble.

Agencies/Nanjing, China

Equestrian rider Hamad al-Qadi will lead the Qatari contingent during the opening ceremony of the second Youth Olympic Games, which will be held at the majestic and colourful Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre tomorrow evening.

Chef-de-Mission Eisa al-Harami confirmed this at the Youth Olympics Games Village yesterday.

The quadrennial event, which was launched in Singapore in 2010, had seen Hamza Dariouch win a silver medal for Qatar in 1,000m race. This year 23 athletes from Qatar will compete across seven disciplines, including athletics, shooting, gymnastics, equestrian, handball, table tennis and swimming.

Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) secretary general Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani recently said, “We are extremely proud of all our athletes that are participating at this world-class event. To reach the Youth Olympic Games is a huge achievement and we are delighted to see so many of our country’s talented young athletes going to Nanjing this year.

“Their places at the Youth Olympic Games are well deserved, and are also testament to initiatives such as the Schools Olympic Program in which many of our athletes took part as an important step on their sporting pathway. Supporting talent from grassroots right through to the elite level is a core part of QOC’s mission and today is a very proud day for us.”

Among the athletes who won medals in the first Youth Olympics, in Singapore in 2010, are swimmers Chad Le Clos and Emma McKeon, and Chinese diver Qiu Bo.

That inaugural event was marred by scenes of empty seats at events despite fans being told they were sold out, resulting in bizarre queues outside half-empty venues.

Chinese organisers said they had learned from the problems in Singapore, which also suffered a cost blow-out after officials badly underestimated expenditure.

“We learnt from Singapore and downsized venues like hockey,” games official Zhou Xiaoguang told China’s official news agency Xinhua.

“We have also modified indoor volleyball to beach volleyball, so it will be easier for more people to watch.”

The hosts are also providing the biggest team for the event, consisting of 123 athletes.

The British Olympic Association is sending 33 youngsters. They will be hoping to emulate the success of Jade Jones and Sam Oldham, who went from the podium in Singapore to medal success at London 2012 in taekwondo and gymnastics.

Nearly 3,800 athletes, representing 204 nations, are expected to compete at the Youth Olympic Games, which feature 28 disciplines and will wind up on August 28.

Nanjinglele, the mascot of the YOG, is inspired by Yuhua or Rain Flower Pebble, which can be found naturally in all shapes and sizes in Nanjing. Lele means both happiness in the Mandarin Chinese language and sound of stones banging.

The Chinese foreign ministry has confirmed that president Xi Jinping will preside over the opening ceremony.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has held meetings with several key officials of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (NYOGOC) to review the preparations.

(Below, left) Qatar’s Chef-de-Mission Eisa al-Harami; (below, right) Idriss Yousef (centre), who will represent Qatar in 800m, in action at an earlier event.