Thursday, September 24
The Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Youth Forum 2009
“Hopefully it won´t rain.“ The morning sky over Olympia was grey. Therefore some of the participants were quite unsure if the Closing Ceremony was going to go to pot like the Opening Ceremony had done. Luckily Zeus had merci on us and the ceremony went off like it was planned. The audience saw an impressing program composed of speeches held by the IOC members, the evaluation of the discussion groups, wonderful arts performances like singing, dancing and instrumental music and of course the conferment of the official medal and certificate of the Pierre de Coubertin Award. A great job Dr. Marxen did who presented the spectacle professionally and led the audience through the program. Almost all participants received both, the medal and the certificate for their extraordinary feat during the events.
Happy and a lot more relaxed all of the participants looked forward to take part in the disco evening prepared by our Greek volunteers. Today after a week full of new experiences and friends we will leave the Olympic Academy towards Athens. On Friday and Saturday there will be lots of historical and intercultural events too and we are all curious what the two days will bring before we will travel back home on Sunday. Finally we want to say thank you to all the people who have worked so hard to make this event an unforgetable adventure.
The Glorious Winners of the Sports Performances
In honor of the best sportsmen and of course sportswomen, we want to congratulate your performances:
BOYS
1.Kaur Kivistik (EST)
2.Oliver Crossley (GBR)
3.Felix Döbel (GER)
GIRLS
1. Sarah Gebbert (GER)
2. Kristin Bakkeli (NOR)
3. Solveig Hugstad (NOR)
Ines and Robert made the Impossible Happen
Do you know the names of the two people, that were called the most during the Youth Forum? No, it was not the names of a handsome guy from Tunisia or a sexy girl from Greece. We are talking about the two leaders of the organising team of the 7th International Pierre de Coubertin Youth Forum: Ines Nikolaus and Robert Marxen from Germany. Ines Nikolaus teaches English and French in Erfurt. Robert Marxen is a former teacher and he was one of the most busiest men during the week in Olympia. His week started quite chaotically, when he had to pick up the Chinese students in the middle of the night at the airport in Athens, after he got to know that they arrived without their teachers. Ines is a person that takes a back seat, but in Olympia she often worked until midnight to make the impossible happen.
The Volunteers of the Youth Forum 2009
It´s impossible to organise a Youth Forum with 140 participants with-out dedicated volunteers. The volunteers of the Youth Forum 2009 really enjoyed their time with the young students from all over the world. Here are their wishes for the students and some final statements:
Semir: “Laughing makes the world better. See you next time everybody!”
Zoi: “I liked, that I met so many different people and made friends for life. “
Katharina: “I´ve been enriched by the experience of meeting young people with many different view points.”
Fabi: “This Youth Forum should be an example for every youth camp. I´ve never experienced such a lovely ´living together´ of different pupils from all over the world. Unbe-lievable!”
Katie: “I enjoyed every minute of this week! And it was a great experience to meet so many creative and open-minded young people.”
Vasilis: “One week was just too short for this wonderful Youth Forum. I was excited, to get the chance to be enriched by so many different cultures.”
Franziska: “If something is too much for you and you are all at sea, it is good to have a friend on your side, who is simply there to hope with you that everything will be right in the end.