Having been confined in the Main Media Centre for … god knows how long… I was pretty happy to have couple of hours to escape to the Youth Olympic Village, where I have another team that teaches athletes about useful and (hopefully!) fun social media applications!
Team Japan at the workshop... again!
It turns out that the Japanese contingent is pretty keen on tech (who knew? 🙂 ) and it was quite encouraging to see Japanese athletes attending the workshop for the fourth consecutive day! Most of them didn’t speak very much English, but that’s ok, because we made sure to have a selection of applications that would come with user interfaces in different langages. Also, we had interpreters to help out. But sometimes, it was just the smiling faces and basic sign language did the job.
Hmm... so does Brian (right) speak Japanese?
And it wasn’t only athletes who benefited from the experience.
There were a fair number of coaches who came by to take care of the athletes, and ended up picking up tips along the way. One particular story that I learnt about was of a gentleman from Gambia (a coach I believe) who had unsuccessfully attempted to attend the workshop thrice! But by sheer determination, he made it eventually, and the team was happy to guide him on his maiden experience with computers. I think it’s great that the super-savvy trainers and volunteers from Singapore got the chance to interact with people who have very limited or no experience with computers. It’s a wake-up call that not everyone lives on the internet, and that life goes on perfectly fine without being hooked up to your cellphone 24/7.
Ken introduces our eager learner to the Singapore 2010 website (great website btw)
The team also had the privilege of meeting some big names who came by…
Charmaine Crooks, one of the Athlete Role Models for the YOG
This surprised young lady won the first gold medal of the first ever Youth Olympic Games.
Remember her? 🙂
Things were going fine in the workshop, so I decided to venture out into the Village for a look. Turns out it really is quite the place to pick up bits of cultural trivia and useful skills if you’re an athlete.
There was this cute press-conference set up to give athletes the feel of a camera staring you down.
Practising for that big moment where a hundred cameras are focused on you
But in the Village, sometimes the media descends on these young athletes for real…
Huang Chao gets to talk to a reporter (and a recorder)
Once in awhile, the young athletes will also get to see how these skills are used by the seasoned professionals…
Guo Jing Jing: Diving diva and seasoned celebrity
And of course, I’m a sucker for celebrities…
Wilson Kipketer, a phenomenal former athlete and man to look up to
Too bad I couldn’t catch Guo Jing Jing in time for a photo. 😦 Maybe at the next YOG.
Everyone in the Village walks around with a wide smile on their face
WhyOhGee 