Multi-sport event – THE Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) continued to ramp up its preparations for the kingdom’s hosting of the third Asian Youth Games later this year.
A co-ordination meeting was held yesterday by the BOC with the event’s organising committees representatives and officials from for the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The mega, multi-sport event is to take place in Bahrain from October 22 to 31.
Yesterday’s meeting took place at The Art Hotel and Resort in Amwaj Islands. Those in attendance discussed the master plan for the Asian Youth Games and the competition schedule, in addition to reviewing the procedures for obtaining visas and accreditation cards, the general sports programme, the sports village, and the media village.
Members of the BOC, the organising committee representatives, and the OCA officials are scheduled to meet once again today.
The third Asian Youth Games is expected to feature more than 20 sports. These include athletics, badminton, basketball 3x3, boxing, camel racing, equestrian (endurance and jumping), e-sports, futsal, golf, handball, judo, jiu-jitsu, mixed martial arts, Muay, road cycling, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wrestling, weightlifting, kabaddi, volleyball, and teqball.
Bahrain was announced in December of last year as the new host of the prestigious continental event following the withdrawal of original host Uzbekistan. This upcoming edition is linked to the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal in 2026.
At the meeting, boys and girls aged 14 to 17 years old will be competing in the sports that are included in the competition programme of the Youth Olympic Games. For the sports that are not in Dakar, the age limit is 18.
Asia’s best young athletes representing an expected 45 countries will be descending upon Bahrain for the competition. The event is highly regarded as the second-largest multi-sport meeting in the continent, surpassed only by the Asian Games at the senior level.
A number of venues across the kingdom are slated to host the various sports, including Isa Sports City and the National Stadium in Riffa, Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town, Bahrain International Circuit and Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, The Royal Golf Club, and possibly Exhibition World Bahrain, among others.
Bahrain’s hosting of the Asian Youth Games follows the grand success of the ISF Gymnasiade Bahrain 2024, held last October. The ISF Gymnasiade, held in cooperation with the International School Sport Federation (ISF), featured more than 5,000 participants, including 4,000 athletes, from more than 80 countries.
This year’s Asian Youth Games follows the first edition held in 2009 in Singapore with 43 nations competing in nine sports. The second took place in Nanjing, China in 2013 with 45 countries participating in 16 sports. Succeeding editions in 2017 and 2021 were cancelled.
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