No Kuwaiti flag - but IOC gets one right

SINGAPORE -- The temptation for many in looking at the photo of the flag-raising ceremony here Wednesday night after the boys' 50-meter backstroke will be to see the Olympic flag where the flag of Kuwait should have been, and to blame the International Olympic Committee. That would be wrong.

Instead, the IOC is to be saluted.

No, Abdullah Altuwaini didn't get to see the Kuwaiti flag go up for the bronze medal he won, a third-place tie in a very close race. It is not fair that a 17-year-old boy didn't get to fully enjoy his moment  -- and what a moment, the first Olympic-category swim medal won by an athlete from Kuwait.

A moment or two before the medals ceremony got underway, Abdullah even was asked -- it wasn't clear by whom -- to take off the T-shirt he was wearing that said "Kuwait" on it. He did so, and put on a sleeveless blue one with harmless commentary. Go Rafael Nadal, it said.

In the bigger picture, Abdullah was here, and he got to swim, and he won a medal, and maybe the medal will go a long way toward resolving one of the most complex disputes very few have even heard about -- a dispute that cuts directly to the essence of keeping sport apart from government interference.

But first the obvious:

"Of course it is a pity we haven't seen our country's flag," the  Kuwaiti ambassador to Singapore, Abdulaziz Al-Adwani, who was on hand Wednesday, said.

The reason why is because the IOC earlier this year suspended the Kuwait Olympic Committee, citing political interference from the nation's parliament.

That it would come to suspension when the Olympic committee at issue is Kuwait makes it all the more fascinating. One of the movement's more influential figures is Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a former Kuwaiti Olympic Committee president who since 1991 has served as head of the Olympic Council of Asia, the continental confederation.

That the IOC would take action when it's the sheik's own country tells you the gravity with which president Jacques Rogge and other senior IOC officials view the issue.

The IOC tried for nearly three years to reach a compromise. But in January of this year, it finally had no choice but to spend the Kuwaiti committee.

In announcing the suspension, as the Associated Press reported at the time, the IOC said Kuwait failed to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for amending a law that allows the Gulf state to interfere in the elections of sports organizations.

The IOC is right to insist on the political autonomy of the sports organizations affiliated with the Olympic movement. To take a different position would be intolerable. Imagine if in the United States members of Congress were, for instance, able to exert direct control over the elections, the management or the  budget authority of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Yikes.

"Kuwait needs swimming to develop in the Middle East," the secretary-general of the nation's swimming federation, Husain Al-Musallam, said here Wednesday evening.

Al-Musallam, who is also director-general of the OCA, added, "The problem is not the IOC."

It's not clear when the Kuwaiti dispute will be resolved.

The suspension wasn't much of an issue for the Vancouver Olympics, Kuwait hardly being a Winter Games nation.

But what to do about these inaugural Youth Games? YOG, as this competition is known, is supposed to be as much about what the Olympic movement can teach young people as it is a Games-style sports event.

The compromise was to allow Kuwaiti athletes -- but not as part of a Kuwaiti team.

There are three on the YOG rolls, identified formally not as Kuwaiti but as "athlete from Kuwait": a girl, Hessah Alzayed, who is entered in the shooting competition, and two boys, 400-meter hurdler Yousef Karam, and Abdullah. Each is 17 years old.

Of the three, Abdullah was considered the likeliest to win a medal. His sports hero, he says, is Michael Phelps; Abdullah says he hoped here to emulate Phelps and win Olympic gold, at least Youth Games-style.

In Monday's final of the boys' 100 back, Abdullah was disqualified. He false-started.

His start Wednesday was clean. And halfway through the race, it was clear he would win a medal. But what color?

As the swimmers neared the wall, the few Kuwaiti fans in the stands were going crazy. "I felt I was going to have a heart attack," 14-year-old Ali Dashti said.

At the end, Abdullah faded just slightly.

Christian Homer of Trinidad & Tobago won, in 26.36 seconds. Rainer Kai Wee Ng of Singapore delighted the home crowd by coming in second, in 26.45. Abdullah and Max Ackermann of Australia touched just one-hundredth of a second back, at 26.46, Abdullah in lane six, Max in lane seven.

A history note: the results led to the first-ever Olympic-event swim medals for all three nations, according to the internal YOG news service.

In the mixed zone, the area just off the pool deck where athletes mingle with reporters, nobody stopped Abdullah from waving the Kuwaiti flag. He said he didn't speak much English. Even so, he tried a few sentences:

"Really, really," he said, "I am very happy."

He also said, "Okay, my flag is not here," meaning part of the formal ceremony. "But I am fighting for my flag."

Triumph in their underwear

SINGAPORE -- The starting gun sounded. Into the water they went. Well, most everybody. It  took Sima Weah and Mika-Jah Teah, 17-year-olds from the African nation of Liberia, a beat or two, maybe even three, to respond. Each finally flexed his knees and leaned forward. Then each of the boys jumped, sort of, a splat sort of a dive.

That far wall was still pretty much 50 meters away. Mika-Jah began chopping at the water. Then Sima.

This wasn't a race. It was a scene, one that underscored just how much these Youth Olympic Games are for so many of the young competitors very much a journey.

As it would turn out, this would be no occasion for pity. This was a triumph, and against unbelievable odds.

In this first heat of the boys' 50-meter freestyle here Tuesday at the Singapore Swim School, Sima found himself in Lane Two. By the luck of the draw, his good buddy, Mika-Jah, was in Lane Three. Both boys were immediately identifiable because they weren't competing in swimsuits.

Sima and Mika-Jah wore underwear, white Under Armour boxer briefs. It was all they had.

"It's a kind of a difficult situation," their coach, Steven Weah, would say later.

These first-ever Youth Games have been described by International Olympic Committee officials as more than just a bunch of races. The IOC officials say the Youth Games are a culture and education showcase. Even so, it's still a sports competition. And the contrast between the athletes from places such as the United States and elsewhere -- they prefer in Olympic-speak to call them "up-and-coming" nations -- could not be more vivid.

The American swimmers, for instance, are schooled in stroke technique, how to turn, how best to breathe to maximize efficiency. Some are -- to use swim jargon -- "tapered and shaved." That means they have prepared for the Youth Games through a rigid training schedule. It also means that, in a bid to be more streamlined in the water, they have shaved their body hair.

Kaitlyn Jones, a 15-year-old from Newark, Del., the gold medalist here Sunday in the 200-meter individual medley, swam the morning's fastest time in the 200 backstroke, 2:13.46. Her prelim time was more than a full second better than the next-best effort, from Barbora Zavadova of the Czech Republic.

"I wanted to drop my time," Kaitlyn said afterward. "I did it -- two seconds!"

The American boys' 400-meter relay team rode a strong final 50 meters from Erich Peske, a 17-year-old from Monte Sereno, Calif., to finish in a first-place tie in their heat with China, both teams timed in 3:27.11.

Erich first attracted national attention for his swimming when he was 10. He is already a veteran of the U.S. national meet. "When I'm home," he said, "my friends say, 'You get to swim with Michael Phelps?' And one of the cool things about being at those meets is you can get to swim with people like him."

He was quick to say, "I'm not Phelps."

It's nonetheless the case that some day Kaitlyn or Erich might win an Olympic medal. They have potential.

It's also the case that, as with most of the athletes at the traditional Summer Games, most of those at the Youth Olympics have no chance at being on the podium.

They are here to help the IOC fulfill a goal that Olympic officials call "universality," meaning the inclusion of athletes from all over.

Surennyam Erdenebileg, a 16-year-old from Mongolia, for example, finished more than eight seconds behind in the girls' 50 fly heats. The important thing is not the eight seconds. It's that she finished, a big smile afterward on her face.

Another 16-year-old. Mariana Henriques of Angola, finished more than 17 seconds back in the heats of the girls' 100 breaststroke. Again -- she finished.

For Sima and Mika-Jah, it was assuredly a victory just to be here. The boys train in a river near Monrovia, the Liberian capital. They catch fish when they swim, Mika-Jah said. The first time they had ever been swimming in a pool was here, in Singapore.

Sima is coach Steven's sister's son. He was not chosen out of nepotism, Steven made plain. "To be very frank with you," he said, Sima and Mika-Jah "swim very well compared to other boys."

This trip to Singapore was Steven's second-ever time in an airplane; he had gone to a regional swim meet a few months ago. For Sima and Mika-Jah, it was for sure their first aviation experience. And what an ordeal. First they flew from Monrovia to Accra, Ghana. From Accra they flew to Nairobi, Kenya. From Nairobi it was on to Dubai. Then Dubai to Singapore.

"This is historical," Steven said of the Liberian team's Youth Games appearance.

"I am very happy to have come this far," Mika-Jah said. "All my friends want to be like me."

The electronic timing records show it took more than a second for Mika-Jah and Sima to get off the blocks. Even at this level, the top swimmers get off in six- or seven-tenths of a second, no more.

Comparatively speaking, Mika-Jah got off to the better of the two starts. But once in the water Sima soon caught him.

The two friends were about halfway across the pool when 17-year-old Cristian Quintero of Venezuela won the race, in 23.41 seconds.

It took Sima nearly twice that long to make it. He touched in 46.18.

Mika-Jah finished in 49.47.

Their times would ultimately turn out to be the two slowest of the day, 49th and 50th of 50 swimmers. No matter. As they came out of the water, both boys were greeted with warm applause.

Though they don't own the regulation waist-to-knee suits called "jammers," both boys did swim with goggles and swim caps. "I was very proud of the way they competed with other boys who have assets," Steven said.

"We can do better," Sima said. And, he vowed, the next time that's just what they will do. "We swim," he said, "with no fear."

Peace, love, understanding -- and geopolitics?

SINGAPORE -- So much for peace, love and understanding. A signal feature of the International Olympic Committee's Youth Games initiative now underway here is a wide-ranging educational component aimed at the 14- to 18-year-old competitors.

What to teach about what happened on the very first night of competition, in the finals Sunday of the boys' under-48 kilogram (106-pound) taekwondo competition?

The final matched two 17-year-old boys:

In red: Gili Haimovitz of Israel, a four-time national champion, a bronze medalist in the under-51 kilo class earlier this year at the Austrian Open.

In blue: Mohammad Soleimani of Iran.

In the semifinals, Soleimani had defeated American Gregory English; Haimovitz had beaten Lucas Guzman of Argentina.

Haimovitz showed up for the final, ready to compete.

Soleimani, though, proved a no-show.

Officially, according to the internal Youth Games news service, Soleimani withdrew for injury, Iranian officials saying Soleimani had aggravated an old injury to his left leg.

"He already had an injury before coming to Singapore -- it happened when he was in Mexico for the world junior championships this year," said Mohammad Esmaeili Malekabadi, an Iranian team assistant.

"He was trying to compete in the Games, and he was pushing himself, trying to go for the final."

Does that pass the credibility test?

When, in 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Iranian judo competitor Arash Miresmaeli, a two-time world champ, refused to take to the mat for a first-round match against Ehud Vaks of Israel, Iranian officials later awarding Miresmaeli $120,000 -- the going rate there for a gold medal -- for what was called a "great act of self-sacrifice."

When, here Sunday in Singapore, Israeli IOC member Alex Gilady was the one awarding the medals in that particular event -- Gilady's selection by the IOC for this particular event made a month ago, everyone in Israeli sport knowing that a medal, if not gold, was a distinct possibility.

When, if Soleimani had gone on to fight, there was of course the risk he might lose -- in which case he would suffer the indignity not only of loss but of standing on the podium while the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, rang out.

So, as it turned out, the anthem sounded, with Haimovitz on the top of the podium. To his left, the American and Argentinian shared the third-place stand. The second-place stand -- it was empty.

So -- now what? What, if anything, is the IOC to do or say?

"We will be looking into it," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

Just a suggestion: A good place to start would be to see whether Soleimani was treated Sunday at any of this city-state's excellent hospitals.

Gilady said, "My heart goes out to the Iranian athlete who was denied by his own officials a very good chance to win the gold, and the opportunity to stand on the podium. This is cruel."

Winners, champions, friendship, gold

SINGAPORE -- The Youth Olympic Games cauldron was lit late Saturday night, roaring into a tornado of whirling fire. As competition gets underway, here is what they were saying in the days leading up to the opening ceremony. All quotes courtesy of the internal Games news service:

"You will learn the difference between winning and being a champion. To win, you merely have to cross the finish line first. To be a champion, you have to inspire admiration for your character, as well as for your physical talent."

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge at the opening ceremony.

"I used to go into the forest, make a bow and arrow, pick a tree as a target and then try to hit it."

Maciel Jaworski of Poland on his introduction to archery

"We just lay on the ground and then when it was over we went on our knees and prayed."

Haitian football team captain Daniel Gedeon on the January earthquake

"It will help the weaker fencers improve the quality of the fencing and not be annihilated."

South African coach Randall Francisco Daniels on the benefit of attending the Games

"He did good things for the world and I want to be the best in what I do, just like he was."

Fencer Amalia Tataran of Romania on pop star Michael Jackson

"After each meal we have to run the boys extra hard because when they enter that dining hall we have no control over them and they just go for it. I just hope they don't go home fat."

Vanuatu team doctor Andy Ilo on his nation's soccer players

"Just to get a decent job."

Zimbabwe junior mountain bike champion Nyasha Lungu on his goals beyond the Youth Games

"Singapore is different. Especially the weather, it's a lot more humid, so it's not very good for my hair."

Youth Olympic Games theme song singer Jody Williams on her first trip outside South Africa

"When I was about 10, I went down to my local leisure centre who were having an open day. It was around the time that 'The Lord of the Rings' movie was out. I thought about being Legolas and it looked fun so I gave it a try."

British archer Mark Nesbitt

"I didn't know that people come in so many different sizes."

Handball athlete Jun Ting Alvin Low of Singapore on the arrival of athletes from around the world for the Games

"When we first started playing together, I thought this was really boring. No one knew the rules, no one understood the game, we all just ran around and shoved each other."

Cook Islands handball captain Gerald Piho on the first time his team played the sport - two months ago

"Because Iran is a conservative society, we have to train men and women taekwondokas in separate rooms as girls cannot mix and train with male players. If this changes, I am sure we can get much better results in female taekwondo competitions."

Iranian coach Fariborz Askari

"Leave out the friendship. Just give us the gold."

Egyptian weightlifting coach Maher Hassan

YOG -- here for good?

SINGAPORE -- Three years ago, the International Olympic Committee authorized the launching of the Youth Olympic Games. Skeptics abounded. There is still ample reason to be skeptical about the YOG adventure. Simply put, it is not the Olympic Games, Summer or Winter.

Then again, it's not designed to be, and on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the very first Youth Games, that difference arguably makes for the very reason YOG stands as an experiment of considerable merit, one for which the IOC -- no matter the outcome here -- ought to be commended.

"I feel like a father waiting in the delivery room for the birth to happen," IOC president Jacques Rogge said at a news conference Saturday morning, a few hours before the opening ceremony.

"... I'm optimistic. But I still want to see the baby being born."

Let there be no misunderstanding: YOG is unequivocally Rogge's baby, the key initiative of his presidency. He pushed it through the IOC session in Guatemala City in 2007 and has championed it since.

The IOC's avowed goal of getting YOG going was to enhance the Olympic connection with young people, and moreover to do so in different ways, to explore in part the reach of the internet and the potential of social media.

Implicit in the launch, meanwhile, was an admission that the IOC needed to a better job of re-connecting with its core values, the ones that since Baron Pierre de Coubertin got the modern movement going in 1894 have set it apart from every other sporting enterprise.

As an organization, the IOC holds close to tradition. Its senior officials are given to a conservative nature; the movement is now a billion-dollar-a-year enterprise, and you don't act rashly with that much at stake.

That makes it all the more remarkable that something like YOG could ever be launched.

At the same time, it was obvious something had to be done.

And no matter how given to tradition, the IOC truly does recognize it must experiment and innovate. In recent years, such innovations had become the province of some of the IOC's constituency groups, in particular the Asian Games, a regional mini-Olympics. With YOG, the IOC is the one asserting control over the experimentation.

Some of the experiments here are comparatively modest -- 3-on-3 basketball, for instance.

Some are, by Olympic standards, radical. The IOC has invited 29 young reporters from around the world to chronicle the event; those young reporters are, in a first, living in the Olympic Village alongside the athletes. (Disclosure: I am here teaching in connection with the Young Reporter program.)

What, then, to expect from YOG, which runs through Aug. 26?

For one thing -- not perfection, and not anything close.

A Summer or Winter Games gets seven years from selection to opening ceremony. Singapore has had roughly two-and-a-half years.

What else? A difference in scale.

A Summer Games runs to 10,000 athletes. Here the number is in the range of 3,000.

And?

A major effort from senior IOC figure Ser Miang Ng and other locals eager to make plain that Singapore is in every way capable of anything. While one current of thought, as expressed by a taxi driver Friday night, is that city-state Singapore is too small to ever host the Summer Games, there's this, too: local officials are already crowing that there won't be any white elephants left over after Aug. 26.

Anything else?

Many of the countries that traditionally dominate the medals counts at a Summer Games would seem unlikely to do so here.

The American team here in Singapore, for instance, does not include the country's top swimmers or gymnasts, and there's no way it could. YOG falls between the U.S. swim nationals earlier this month and the Pan Pacific championships later in August, both events in Irvine, Calif.; meanwhile, the U.S. gymnastics nationals are ongoing this week in Hartford, Conn.

"I really hope it is a small country that wins," international basketball federation secretary general Patrick Baumann told Associated Press, referring to the 3-on-3 tourney. "I am sure there will be some surprises."

The most notable challenges:

Will the locals fill the seats? Unclear. These are 14- to 18-year-olds competing in these sports, not stars the likes of Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt.

And, beyond -- who's going to know out in the big wide world what's happening in Singapore?

Already it's clear that some of the stories that will come out of here are precisely the sort the IOC craves. You want to talk about young people connecting with the Olympic values? A 12-year-old boy, Low Wei Jie, shadowed the YOG torch relay as it made its way around the city Tuesday. In all, he ran nine miles. He ran for two-and-a-half hours. He ran through heavy rain. He ran in flip-flops.

"When I read in the newspapers that the flame was coming here," he later told the local Straits Times newspaper, "I just wanted to see it for myself, and follow it. I might never see it again."

Similarly compelling are some of the quotes already rocketing around the internal YOG news service.

"When you drop out of school, you have two options. Neither of them are good. You get into drugs or you go to jail. Ben found another way through sports," Zambian team manager Yonah Mwale said of boxer Ben Muyizo.

None of this is likely to be featured elsewhere on softly lit television features that fill prime time. It doesn't make financial sense for NBC to come here for two weeks.

It's not that there isn't TV coverage; there is, and it reaches most countries. But YOG is not must-see TV. Thus the dilemma. How are the very young people the IOC is trying to reach supposed to know in any meaningful way what this is about?

Finally, and along much the same line:

Is the goal here to launch the sports careers of those who will succeed Phelps or Bolt? Or merely to create a feel-good Olympic camp experience, and hope the campers will go home and rave about the experience to everyone they know?

If it's the latter, what are the metrics by which one might assess whether YOG is achieving what it is the IOC is shooting for? And the time frame in which it's reasonable to expect such results?

It's because of these sorts of questions that skeptics abound.

"As I have said, we approach this with the necessary humility. Here and there we make mistakes," Rogge said Saturday. "We even make mistakes at traditional Games -- still, after 110 years of existence.

"But the spirit of this house is to learn from errors, and to improve."