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SHOW OF SUPPORT: Young sailors (from left) Rachel Lee, Darren Choy, Muhammad Audi Afiq Aznan, Mark Wong, Ng Sue Shen, Daniel Tan, Jeddy Tan, Yuki Yoshiyasu, Kimberly Lim and Andrew tang are hoping that Singapore wins the bid to host the Games so that they can compete on home soil. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF SINGAPORESAILING
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IT IS D-Day.
By this evening, Singapore will know if it pipped Moscow to host the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
The live satellite announcement of the winner will come from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, at 7pm.
'This is like the World Cup final,' said Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck.
'You'd never think that we would come up against a big, great city like Moscow - especially in sports - but here we are.'
The announcement will round off more than seven months of hard work by Singapore's bid committee - including submitting a comprehensive candidature file, securing financial and infrastructural guarantees and making a presentation to the IOC.
It was not always smooth-sailing. But the Republic's assurance that its proposed Olympic Village at the University Town will be ready by 2010 - the IOC's main worry - quashed fears that Singapore would not be ready to host the Games.
Bid preparations also saw Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visit Lausanne last October, where he met IOC president Jacques Rogge.
The eight-minute broadcast will be shown on two LED screens, measuring 12m by 10m, in front of City Hall.
This is part of The Final Countdown party at the Padang, which will start at 5.30pm. Over 5,000 people decked in red are expected to turn up.
Festivities include games, food, and performances by Asian Idol Hady Mirza and Project Superstar winners Daren Tan and Tan Diya.
SingaporeSailing president and International Sailing Federation vice-president Low Teo Ping, who recently met members of the sporting world in Geneva, is optimistic about Singapore's chances.
'The word around is that Singapore should get a chance to host the YOG, since it will never get to host the Winter version or Olympics,' he said.
The way the whole country has come out in support of the bid has not gone unnoticed and would be 'a very important element' in deciding the winner.
To date, more than 550 companies are backing Singapore's bid.
A flurry of YOG events have been sprouting up all over the island, involving schools, organisations and corporations.
For example, about 2,500 students and staff of Nanyang Polytechnic gathered at their Campus Centre last month to support the bid and completed 147,433 push-ups.
Young Singaporeans have also gone online to show their backing by blogging, chatting on forums, posting videos and setting up websites.
Singapore's winning the bid would have added meaning for sailor Ng Sue Shen, 12.
The Secondary One student said: 'I hope to be part of the Games and to compete on home soil. It'll be a great experience for me.'
Postal voting by IOC members closed last Friday.
The city which gets the majority of 105 votes will be declared the winner.
Until then, Mr Teo will continue to be consumed by his Olympic anxiety.
He said: 'When I wake up, I see five rings. When I sleep, I see five rings. Now, I just have rings around my eyes.'
linxinyi@sph.com.sg
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