Despite arriving in the early hours of the day, there was a high turnout awaiting the victorious Egyptian delegation upon arrival at the Cairo International Airport. Sports officials, led by Youth and Sports Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz, as well as families and friends, received the medal winners and athletes with a band of folkloric music — Elmezmaar — flowers, cheers and applause. Abdel-Aziz congratulated officials and athletes for their achievements and said that he would keep the promise he made to the winners of lucrative prize money. He also confirmed that an official celebration for all winners and participants will be held very soon. Abdel-Aziz had flown to Nanjing to attend the opening ceremony and met with the athletes before the competitions began. Though Egypt won an overall 11 medals — 3 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals — Egypt was placed 33 in the final medals table out of 87 countries who had won medals. Altogether, 204 countries took part in the games. However, officially, Egypt had won only an overall eight medals according to the Youth Olympic Games calculations. Mixed teams medals were not calculated, even though the athletes competed, attended the medals' ceremony and received their medals. Since Egypt had won three mixed team medals — two in shooting and one in diving — the final calculation for Egypt was eight. “It doesn't underestimate the achievement. It's only a matter of calculations and different rules and regulations in the Youth Olympics compared to the seniors,” explained the head of the Egypt delegation, Sherif Al-Erian. “But for us here at the National Olympic Committee, there is no difference. These three medals are still medals that have been won through a hard-fought competition and through great effort. The only difference might be in the prize money to be awarded by the ministry. It would be less. We have still to see how the government will consider it,” Al-Erian added. “We are proud of the achievement which were beyond our expectations. The target was between 5 to 7 medals. We had hoped to at least match the record of seven medals achieved in the first Youth Games in Singapore in 2010. But against all odds, Egypt won 11, which is an outstanding success considering the budget deficit the federations suffered from,” the head of the Egypt delegation said. The Egyptians had taken part in 20 different sports with a total participation of 83 male and female athletes who battled it out in fencing, handball, basketball, table-tennis, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, wrestling, weightlifting, tennis, swimming , diving, sailing, rowing, archery, athletics, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, badminton, shooting and cycling. Medals were only achieved in eight sports — handball, wrestling, weightlifting, swimming, diving, athletics, taekwondo and shooting. Weightlifting, wrestling and shooting each claimed two medals, whereas swimming, diving, handball, athletics and taekwondo each settled for only one medal. Thousands of fans in the Olympic Sports Center of Nanjing, as well as millions around TV sets all over the world, witnessed the 2nd Youth Olympic Games as it came to an end after a gala Closing Ceremony. Following a 12-day celebration of youth and sport, the Youth Olympic Flame was extinguished and the Games were declared closed by IOC president Thomas Bach, who had the highest praise for the conduct of the event. “The organisation of these Games was perfectly flawless,” he said. “These Summer Youth Olympic Games were a resounding success thanks to our wonderful Chinese hosts. All of us, from every corner of the world, would like to thank the government and the people of China, Jiangsu and Nanjing.” China's celebration that day was double. They not only celebrated a successful event, but winning the Games as well. The Chinese athletes had collected an overall of 65 medals to top the medals' table with 38 gold, 13 silver and 14 bronze medals. Russia was second with a total of 57 medals; 27 gold, 19 silver and 11 bronze medals. The mixed NOCs achieved an overall 39 medals; 13 gold medals, 12 silvers and 14 bronze medals. In the medals table, the mixed NOCs appeared after second-placed Russia. However, they were not awarded the third place, which went to the USA. The Americans came in third place with a total of 22 medals; 10 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals. The Closing Ceremony also saw the Olympic Flag lowered and handed over to a representative of the next host city, Buenos Aires, Argentina, which will play host to the third Youth Summer Olympic Games in 2018. Two thousand performers entertained the crowd of around 60,000 at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium under the theme of “Youth in Full Bloom.” Before the ceremony, Bach said that he hoped that, for many athletes, the Youth Olympic Games had been just the first step in their Olympic journey. There definitely were quite a few athletes in Nanjing whom we will see again in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and maybe even in Tokyo 2020. “They have now already experienced the Olympic environment. They have experienced what the Olympic spirit means. Therefore, I think they will train even harder to be successful in future,” Bach said. The ceremony opened with a countdown and fireworks before a parade of flags of each of the 203 nations and regions present at the Games. While tennis star Sandra Samir carried the Egyptian flag at the opening ceremony, it was swimmer Ahmed Akram, winner of the swimming 800-meteres freestyle race gold medal, who had the honour of lifting the Egyptian flag high at the closing ceremony. A selected group of thousands of volunteers who contributed a great deal to the event were thanked by a group of athletes representing the 3,800 others who competed. The athletes were thrilled and cheered as they watched the video montages of the sporting highlights of the Games and of the Opening Ceremony, which were shown on the stadium's video screens. Seven giant platforms, which spelled out Nanjing, became the stages for the performers who sang and danced amid a spectacular lightshow on the stadium floor. The remainder of the night, however, was a celebration and a fond farewell. IOC president Bach officially declared the Games over and called on the youth of the world to gather again in four years. “Preparations for the coming Youth Games should start immediately. We need to plan ahead from now and are looking forward to maintaining the cooperation between the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Budgets should be set from now and allocated as well,” said Al-Erian, who is also board member of the Egyptian National Olympic Committee. The closing ceremony climaxed with a mass stage performance by a cast of dancers and singers, with the Game's colourful mascot, LeLe, floating above the stadium floor. Traditional songs were followed by pop music and performances with the flavour of every continent. As in the spectacular Opening Ceremony, acrobats and high wire daring again featured; the long silk ribbons in the colours of the Olympic rings rose from above the performers, drawing gasps from the audience. As the Olympic flame died down, hundreds of performers flooded into the stadium for a grand finale. It was a ceremony mixed with pride and a tinge of sadness at a memorable event that must come to an end. Although the Nanjing 2014 experience is over, there is always something to look forward to. Ugandan runner Geofrey Balimumiti spoke for many by saying, “It has been a great experience and what I learnt here will help me realise my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal in the future.”
