Youth Olympic Games torch relay kicks off in Singapore in rain
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Downpour could not dampen the enthusiasm of Singaporeans for the Youth Olympic Games as thousands took to the streets to cheer the torch relay in the host city on Saturday morning.
Amidst screams and cheers from about 3,000 students and teachers of a secondary school in Singapore's Central District, Singapore's Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen received the flame from Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee chief executive Goh Kee Nguan before passing it to the first torchbearer, 16-year-old student Tay Shi Pei.
However, downpour began when Tay and the minister was showcasing the torch to the crowd at the ring court of the school. The following torch bearers continued with the relay despite of the rain.
Coincidently, the Youth Olympic torch takes its design inspiration from nature's two elements - fire and water.
The Singapore leg of the Youth Olympic torch relay will run through Friday (with a break on August 9), passing through housing estates, parks, schools, historic sites, places of interests and Singapore's financial and civic districts and covering a distance of 305 km - equivalent to travelling the entire length of the island six times. Some 2,400 torchbearers will take part.
The Youth Olympic Games will take place between August 14 and 26. Athletes aged between 14 and 18 years from the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will compete in 26 sports and take part in a Culture and Education Program.
