The countdown to the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival is almost over and for the 1700 athletes from 30 nations their first Olympic-style experience starts on Wednesday in Sydney.
The countdown to the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival is almost over and for the 1700 athletes from 30 nations their first Olympic-style experience starts on Wednesday in Sydney.
Day 1 of competition begins in Penrith with canoe/kayak – sprint and at Sydney Olympic Park with hockey and badminton. Athletes from the other 17 sports will train across Sydney ahead of the Opening Ceremony.
On Wednesday evening the Sydney Entertainment Centre will turn into an Opening Ceremony spectacular with all the traditional elements of an official Olympic showpiece including hundreds of entertainers and an athlete’s parade of nations. (Tickets available via www.ticketmaster.com.au )
The first medals of the 2013 AYOF will be decided at Sydney International Regatta Centre with Australian paddlers competing against athletes from Brazil, China, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand and Combined Oceania (Finals 0950 – 1250).
The badminton team event gets underway (1000-1300) at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Hall – West and at the Hockey Centre there are four matches (0900–1230) with the tough women’s tournament seeing Australia vs Great Britain and China vs USA. The men’s matches on Day 1 are Malaysia vs Great Britain and Australia vs USA.
The Ceremony finishes at 830pm on Wednesday night to ensure the athletes, aged 12-20, are ready for Thursday when action takes place in nine sports. For most competitors this will be their first international multi-sport competition and the hours of training and dreaming of Olympic stardom are here.
Andrew Reid
Olympics.com.au
Follow the AYOF on Twitter @AYOF2013 #AYOF2013 # RoadtoRio
