All set for the 2018 summer Youth Olympic Games

The most emblematic place of Buenos Aires, Avenida 9 de Julio will come alive tonight as 7, 200 athletes from 206 member associations line up for the opening ceremony ahead of the start of the 2018 summer youth Olympics.

This will be the first time that a host city will open an edition of the Olympic Games outside a stadium, with a whole community in attendance.

There will be a lot of pomp and pageantry as all 206 countries showcase the best of their respective cultural heritage. The host country will also use the opportunity to showcase its technological advancements as it aims to reach a vast majority of the world’s population through all traditional, social and new media platforms available.

In summary, Argentina will showcase its best side to the world in 90 minutes! After all the pomp and pageantry that will be exhibited tonight, athletes and their coaches will get down to business in all the four venues that have been earmarked for the games. There was a huge funfair at the Games Village in the Villa Soldati neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires to usher in the Games.

Athletes from almost all federations were busily engrossed in a night of multicultural displays in the huge village and could barely spare anyone some time. The Ghanaian contingent was not left out of the fun as they needed to ease all of the tension ahead of the competition.

Chef de Mission of Team Ghana Evans Yeboah said: “all was well in camp as the athletes had acclimatized quite well in the last four days since their arrival in Argentina.” He also mentioned that deputy youth and sports minister Perry Curtis Okudzeto had visited the team on Thursday together with deputy head of Ghana’s mission in Argentina to interact with and assure them of government’s total support. Ghana’s events will begin on October 7 with beach volleyball.

Eric Tsatsu and Kevin Carboo will do Ghana the honours in that event. Two days after that, on October 9, Ghana’s captain for the summer Olympics and swimming sensation Abeiku Jackson will dive into the waters to compete in the men’s 100m butterfly event.

On Thursday, October 11, Ghana’s only female athlete in Argentina, 16-year-old Sandra Mensimah Owusu will compete in the 58kg weightlifting event.

Wrapping up Ghana’s participation at the 2018 summer youth Olympics in Buenos Aires will be Solomon Diaffo who will take to the athletics track for the men’s 400m event.

Ghanaweb will bring you regular up to the minute updates especially on team Ghana’s performances at the games.