Youth Olympians Take Games Headfirst

by Melanie Schaefer

     The summer youth Olympic games were held in Nanjing, China from the 16th to the 28th of August this year, though this year is only the second time in history the summer version of the event has been held. The unique games are open to anyone aged fourteen to eighteen. Qualifications are also similar to the regular Olympics. Each country hosts selection trials where athletes compete in hopes of qualifying to represent their country.
     This year the games had a cultural exchange program (CEP) giving the participants and opportunity to mingle with one another and learn about other cultures. Team USA participated in over 2500 CEP events. Athletes were also given the chance to meet current or past Olympic athletes.
     For these games the United States had 92 athletes competing in twenty sports. Team USA earned 66 top-ten finishes, including ten gold medals, five silver medals, and seven bronzes. This was the third highest medal count out of all of the countries that were there competing. Overall, athletes won medals in eleven sports. These included basketball, fencing, gymnastics, judo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, track and field, triathlon, and wrestling. The Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held in Lillehammer, Norway from February 12th to February 21st in 2016. Hopefully the Games will gain more support worldwide and continue to grow in popularity.