3 ways in which Haut-Lac students got involved in the Youth Olympic Games
Supporting the development and ambitions of Haut-Lac’s young sports people in the most exciting way – with the Youth Olympic Games!
Haut-Lac students get involved…
It isn’t every day that the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) turn up on our doorstep. ‘Turn up’ might not actually be the best expression to use given the amount of preparation that goes into an Olympic event of this grandeur. In fact, our DP2 student, ski racer and YOG volunteer, Georgina Shepherd, knows just how long it took to organise.
Georgie centered her International Baccalaureate CAS project (Creativity, Activity, Service) around working with the YOG organisational committee, learning about the foresight and creativity that is needed to plan such a large scale event. She introduced the Games to our students last year in an assembly that included a visit by none other than Virginie Favre (St-Légier’s very own Olympic medal-winning snowboarder).
During the Games, Georgie was also a medal bearer at the official evening ceremonies, and was asked to hand participation certificates to the Australian delegation athletes during an aperitif hosted for them at Haut-Lac.
A very special Australian celebration
Thanks to Haut-Lac’s association with the World Academy of Sport (an organisation with Australian origins), we were honoured to be asked to host this event that reunited the first wave of aspiring Australian athletes with their second wave of more experienced athletes. It was a lively meeting of the 33 young Olympians, their families, their teams and even a few Australian ex-Olympians, as well as John Coates, the president of the Australian Olympic Committee, among others.
Haut-Lac’s own young sporting talents were invited to partake in the celebration as inspiration and motivation for their own sporting endeavors. Our Australian families were also present at this ceremony, which served as a way to hand over the letters of support Haut-Lac students had written for children in Australian schools, expressing their condolences and support in the wake of the bushfire devastation.
Bringing the excitement of the games to the school day
To round up this magnificent fortnight of sport, our lucky P4s and P5s witnessed the electric atmosphere at the Malley stadium as they watched the semi-finalist ice-hockey teams go head to head in the rink. The Haut-Lac racing team also had the privilege of watching young Olympians battling it out on the slalom course in Diablerets.
All in all, it was a thrilling time, bringing together young people from the world over to meet and exchange stories – a highlight according to the Australian athletes. Cultural exchange and sport so often go hand in hand, and these Games are a great way to promote the bridges we can build as nations through a shared passion.
As an international school with local roots, Haut-Lac is very proud to have been able to participate so intently in the Games. Roll on Tokyo 2020, when we will hopefully watch our DP1 student, Sofia Gonzalez, in action on the Paralympic race track!
Written by Katie Harwood
