The Coordination Commission, headed by IOC member Lambis Nikolaou, was particularly satisfied with the development of the Youth Olympic Village (YOV) as a stand-out project well ahead of schedule. A visit was also made to the YOV site, which is part of a major city development plan that will become a housing facility, school and kindergarten after the Games. In addition, the Nanjing Organising Committee (NYOGOC) underlined its commitment to delivering “green Games” with the integration of solar energy and rainwater harvesting in the Village construction.

Since the last visit of the Coordination Commission in October 2011, several milestones have been reached as the local organisers transition from the strategic to operational planning phase. Construction of the Youth Olympic Sports Park, one of the only sports venues to be built from scratch for the Games, began in February 2012. The Park will be home to hockey, BMX, rugby and beach volleyball during the Games and afterwards be transformed into a community sports facility.
After validating the qualification system this summer, the Coordination Commission approved the first version of the sports competition schedule, which will be fully integrated with the Culture and Education Programme to ensure that athletes can balance their experiences both on and off the field of play.

NYOGOC continues to benefit from the support of the Chinese Olympic Committee and regional and central governments, and has made great strides with national partners, having secured contracts in the categories of banking, apparel, mobile telecoms and legal services. In addition, NYOGOC continues to engage with regional representatives from the IOC’s TOP Partners. To support the organisers’ communication efforts, Xinhua has been signed as Nanjing 2014’s host news and photo agency.

Nanjing 2014’s work force has also been strengthened with the addition of new, multilingual talent from a range of sporting backgrounds and the support of international consultants. The volunteer recruitment process is well under way and an estimated 20,000 volunteers will offer support during Games time.

The venue master plan is close to finalisation, with 26 competition venues confirmed. In addition, 20 of the 28 International Federations have already visited Nanjing, with the remaining federations scheduled to visit over the course of 2012/13.

“We are delighted to see the progress made by NYOGOC with just under two years to go. The operational planning stage is a critical phase in which they start to turn their vision into reality,” Nikolaou said. “The support from both central and regional governments and local partners is very positive and together they are on the right track to delivering a successful second Youth Olympic Games.”