Day 3: Here's what’s been happening at the YOG

Performance of the day

Austrian climbers took two of the three spots on the first-ever Olympic podium for sport climbing. And what’s more, they’re best friends and training partners.

Sandra Lettner battled hard to get to the top of the wall in the deciding lead climb and looked disappointed when she got down, thinking she had blown it. But having tied for points with Slovenia’s Vita Lukan, she won gold because she performed better in two of the three disciplines that make up the combined event.

Afterwards, Lettner shared an emotional embrace with compatriot and bronze medallist Laura Lammer, who said: “We are best friends! I’ve known [Sandra] since I started climbing, and I’m so happy for her because she trained so hard for this. It was our dream to stand on the podium together.”

 Silver lining for Jack’s birthday present

British equestrian athlete Jack Whitaker received the perfect 17th birthday present today, as he clinched a silver medal as part of the European team competing in the mixed show jumping event. After two days of competition, Europe and North America finished level on points, so a jump-off was needed to determine the YOG champions. In the end, it was North America that topped the podium thanks to a slightly faster time, but the result still didn’t upset birthday boy Whitaker.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to win a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games,” he said afterwards. “The experience here has been tremendous and I am now looking forward to the individual event.”

School’s out!

Visitors to the various venues around Buenos Aires can’t fail to notice the thousands of schoolchildren who have been enjoying the Youth Olympic vibe. They’ve all been given the chance to experience the Games as part of Buenos Aires 2018’s “Schools go to the Games” programme, which is running each weekday during the event. By the end of the YOG, approximately 200,000 children from schools across Buenos Aires will have taken part, participating in sports and cultural and recreational activities, as well as watching some of the star young athletes in action. Those in the Youth Olympic Park today got an extra thrill as they were able to cheer Argentina on to a hockey 5s victory over Poland.

Changing the game

As part of the YOG’s #GameChangers campaign, athletes in Buenos Aires are being encouraged to create their own content to highlight their experiences and share results on social media. In order to bring their content to life, they can even create their own animated GIFs at the dedicated #GameChangers Hub in the Youth Olympic Village. These can then be shared on Tenor or used to give their social posts a YOG-inspired boost.

Quote of the day

“It’s weird because the first time, I hated it; the second time, I hated it. For a straight year, I hated it, because you get beat up so much at the beginning, when you don’t know anything. But once I started progressing I was like, ‘This is so fun’.”

Canada's Keagan Young is probably happy he persisted with judo, after clinching a bronze medal in Buenos Aires