The 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics are seen as a precursor to Rio 2016

2014 Youth Olympic Games will see the introduction of a lot of sports

Nanjing (China), Aug 12 (IANS) The second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing is seen as a Games of many firsts, as rugby sevens, Hockey5s, golf, 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball and showcase events such as sport climbing, roller sports, skateboarding and wushu make their debut.

The Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have worked in close conjunction to ensure the events that feature in Rio 2016 have been included in these Games.

"Golf and Rugby Sevens have been included here because the IOC suggested that we keep Brazil 2016 in mind as well when planning," said Zhou Xiaoguang, the deputy head of Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Sports, the functional area responsible for producing competition and training schedules.

"So we took the proposal, of the IOC, and started to build new venues here."

Nanjing has 35 venues in total, with 28 sports being contested during the Games. A total of 30 sporting events will be held in Nanjing, four more than the 2010 Games. The Organising Committee kept the Singapore model in mind as well while planning.

"We learnt from Singapore and downsized venues like hockey. We wanted to make the venues more attractive to spectators. We have also modified indoor volleyball to beach volleyball, so it will be easier for more people to watch it. Spectators can watch outdoor games more easily," Zhou added.