Background
Host of the 117th IOC Session, Singapore made its first formal bid to host a multi-disciplinary sporting event of this magnitude. It banked on its high connectivity with the world, its youthfulness as an independent country and its reputation for excellence and multi-racial harmony. The city-state rolled out a high-publicity campaign. These included being amongst the first to launch its official website, bid logo (dispute IOC rules against bid logos) and a bid tagline "Blazing the Trail" on 16 October 2007 and getting the local populace to support its bid, including an effort by students to collect 1 million signatures in support of the games.
Singapore's bid got off to a rocky start when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed concern on 15 July 2007 that the city may not be ready to host the games as the Singapore Sports Hub is expected to be ready only in 2011. By 10 August 2007, however, the city announced its intentions to proceed with the bid. Former Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports Teo Ser Luck went to Beijing with Ng Ser Miang and other government officials on a "fact-finding" mission from 25 September to 28 September 2007.
On 8 October 2007, Prime Minister Lee expressed full support in Singapore's bid after meeting IOC President Jacques Rogge in Lausanne. Singapore's bid documents were submitted on 23 October 2007, two days before the IOC's deadline.
Read more about this topic: Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics Bid
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