Focus on change, gender equality

Youth Olympic Games opener

BUENOS AIRES – Seven Filipino athletes will mingle with 4,000 others from over 200 nations when the third Youth Olympic Games unfurls amid a festive street-party atmosphere never seen before on the Olympic stage.

Saturday’s opening ceremony of this 12-day spectacle for the world’s finest young athletes aged 15-18, will be held outside a stadium – in the very heart of this city known for its rich culture in dance, theater and arts and colonial architecture.

The Obelisco de Buenos Aires, a historic 235-foot monument made of white stone, will serve as the epicenter of the YOG opener.

Golfer Yuka Saso, who won two gold medals in last Asian Games, will carry the flag for the small Philippine contingent that will be dressed like they’re in the 1950s, in their white pants, dark-blue jackets and white fedoras with red, white and blue trim.

Joining the 17-year-old Saso are fellow golfer Carl Jano Corpus, swimmer Nicole Justine Marie Oliva, fencer Lawrence Everett Tan, kiteboarder Christian Tio, archer Nicole Marie Tagle and table tennis’ Jann Marie Nayre.

In 2014 in Nanjing, China archer Luis Gabriel Moreno won a gold medal for the Philippines in the mixed team event, paired with a female archer from China.

Nayre will be the first to plunge into action on Sunday, followed by Oliva and Tio, a curly-haired Filipino-Norwegian kiteboarder based in Boracay. The others will follow suit in the cold days ahead.

“It certainly won’t be easy considering the high level of competition. But one thing is for sure, our athletes will show up with their best performance to get a medal,” said chef-de-mission Jonne Go, who will be joined by Patrick Gregorio, secretary-general of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

This YOG has been labeled as “Changing the Game,” with the inclusion of new sports like roller-sports, BMX freestyle, sport-climbing, beach handball and kiteboarding. Organizers have also focused on gender equality, meaning an equal number of female and male participants from the grand total of 4,012.

The YOG delegates, including coaches, trainers and officials, will be transported by bus, maybe a hundred of them, from the Athletes Village to the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, located in one of the city’s main avenues.

For a change, the participants won’t have to march, simply gathering around the iconic monument built in 1936 to commemorate Buenos Aires’ foundation.

Some of the hotels fronting the Obelisco are charging a certain amount for the public to get inside their premises for a good view of the opening ceremony that promptly starts at 8 p.m.

A total of 241 events in 32 sports will be played until Oct. 18.