The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said on Sunday that he is looking forward to an excellent 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing , but the strategy must be sustainable.
Rogge arrived this capital city of east China's Jiangsu province earlier Saturday on an inspection visit. Nanjing, which hosted the 10th Chinese National Games in 2005, will stage the second Youth Olympics in four years.
"I was pleased to see that these splendid venues were used by citizens of the city, because we built venues for major sports events, and they are very important, but then after the sports events they must be used by the citizens of the city, and that is the case here, so that's a very good example that how venue should be built."
Rogge stressed the importance of sustainable legacy for the city.
"The game, definitely, will further the development of the city, but it has to be sustainable. I will give you a simple example. If you build a sports venue, you should not build it too big, you can always fit it at the occasion of the Olympic Games, but then the needs for such a big building might not be necessary for the citizens of the city."
Listening to the preparation report of the Youth Olympic Organizing Committee, Rogge said, "Nanjing should take all the good points of Singapore and adapt them to the local situation.
"One of the successes from Singapore is that they introduce young people and give them responsibilities. The organizing committee was a young committee. The volunteers were very young, well-trained, very kind. On the other side, we had asked International Federations and International Olympic Committee to send young judges, young delegates, and it was a very young atmosphere, and that's what you need to have."
The IOC President added, "Four years pass extremely fast. The Organizing Committee started with a very good organization, very sound strategy. I can feel in meeting with people of Nanjing that they are in love with this project. I spoke with many Chinese friends and I was at the (Nanjing Foreign Languages School) language school this afternoon. You can see the dynamics that comes out of Nanjing to organize this."
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