Bidding for the 2014 Youth Olympics

Numerous cities around the world initially declared their interest in hosting the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Among the potential applicants was Rabat, the capital of Morocco; New Delhi, India; Moscow, Russia; Jakarta, the capital and largest city in Indonesia; and Monterrey, the third largest city in Mexico. Since Nanjing was one of the cities nominated as a potential host city for 2014, the Nanjing team worked hard on their presentation right up to the last minute. The members of the Nanjing delegation stayed up late working on their preparations to ensure everything would be perfect on the big day. They didn’t take time to explore beautiful Vancouver – they barely even took time to rest!

In the event, the final bid to host the 2nd Summer YOG was fiercely contested between two cities. One was Nanjing, China, and the other was Poznan, Poland.

The Final Moments

Those final moments have become legendary among the Nanjing bidding delegation. Four hours before the presentation it was decided that the script, which had been revised countless times, should be completely overhauled. The presentation itself was then rehearsed with just one hour to spare. The representatives insisted on doing every last thing flawlessly. To the team’s relief, everything went off without a hitch!

So it was that on 10th February, the Chinese Nanjing delegation began to announce their bid for the 2014 YOG. Confident speaking coupled with a smooth PowerPoint presentation drew rapturous applause from the audience.

And in the end, Nanjing won the day!

The Moment of Truth

Nanjing won the vote by a narrow margin (47-42) over the only other candidate city, Poznan of Poland.

The result was announced by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge at the 122nd IOC session in Vancouver.

The Chinese bidders turned to each other, their faces breaking into broad grins. They rushed to hug each other in excitement.
 

We’ve Won! We’re Hosting the 2nd Youth Olympic Games!

VANCOUVER, Feb. 10—Nanjing, China won the right to host the second Summer YOG in 2014 here on Wednesday.
Nanjing won the vote by a narrow margin of 47-42 over the only other candidate city, Poznan of Poland.

Talking about the close competition with Poznan, Zhu Shanlu, director of the Nanjing Bidding Committee, said he had felt nervous when he saw the narrow result.

"I had been mentally prepared for quite a different result, because I knew all along how hard and fierce it was to compete with Poznan," said Zhu after the session.

Nanjing, the capital city of eastern China's Jiangsu Province and the ninth largest city in China, joined Mexico's Guadalajara and Poland's Poznan in the running, before Guadalajara dropped out in January.

"Our victory belongs to the growing influence of China, and to my hometown Nanjing," Zhu added.

"We have a lot to do in the coming preparation period, and we are ready to take on the responsibility," he said.

The 2014 Games is scheduled to take place over 12 days with up to 3,500 athletes aged 14-18 competing in as many as possible of the 26 official Olympic summer sports.

In January, Nanjing came out as a favorite of the IOC Evaluation Commission as its planned project to host the Games presented "the minimal risk".

Nanjing, the host of the Chinese National Games in 2005, was determined to use its existing venues, as 21 of the required 25 are already in existence and in close proximity to the proposed site of the Olympic Village.

With a population of approximately 7.4 million, the city's 117 million US dollar budget appeared to be consistent with the levels of service described in the candidature file and most key costs had been taken into consideration, according to the Evaluation Commission's report.

The vision of the YOG is to inspire young people around the world to participate in sports and adopt and live by the Olympic values.

Reasons for Choosing Nanjing

A modern city, Nanjing has complete facilities and sufficient capabilities to host a successful YOG.

A dynamic city, Nanjing is an ideal place to promote the Olympic spirit and to develop the Olympic Youth movement.

A green city, Nanjing has lots of beautiful scenery and a great eco-environment to promote the spirit of good health and sports.

A city with a long history and rich cultural heritage, Nanjing can provide the background for a fascinating cultural exchange for people all around the world, which is beneficial to youth education in particular.

Our Appreciation of Our Supporters – Thank You!

There are so many people around the world who dedicated their time and energy to supporting Nanjing.

More than 97% of the residents in Nanjing supported the city's bid for the 2014 Games, as shown in a survey by the Nanjing Opinion Poll Center last December.
According to the survey, 93.38% of Nanjing residents will be willing to work as volunteers for the Games, and the percentage is particularly high (96.52%) among those below age 35.

While the Nanjing delegation was in Vancouver, they received great help and support from overseas Chinese and non-Chinese friendly to the cause.

Most especially, we appreciate Mr. Verbruggen and thank him with all our hearts. He has given Nanjing a great deal of support during its bid for the 2nd YOG. 

We cannot forget that moment in Vancouver when our dream came true!

The world has chosen Nanjing, and Nanjing will not let the world down.

So let’s make a date. Let’s all meet in Nanjing in Summer 2014!