China showcases future Olympic stars as curtain falls

A glittering ceremony will Thursday close the Youth Olympics in China's eastern city of Nanjing after 12 days of competition that showcased the sporting superstars of the future.
No official medals table is published for the multi-sports event which focuses on a programme promoting friendship and sportsmanship, rather than winning.
But unofficial sources put China on top with 38 gold medals, followed by Russia on 27 and the United States with 10.
Tennis starlet Ye Shilin, 16, who is being tipped by state media to eclipse the achievements of 32-year-old double Grand Slam winner Li Na as China's greatest player, won the girls' singles.
Another home-grown talent, 17-year-old Shen Duo, swept to six gold medals in the swimming pool, despite suffering from flu.
In table tennis -- a sport long dominated by China -- 17-year-old rising star Fan Zhendong claimed gold in both the boys' singles and mixed team doubles events.
China also dominated the girls football, beating Venezuela 5-0 in the final on Wednesday evening.
Chinese basketball phenomenon Yao Ming -- an eight-time NBA All-Star -- made an appearance at the Games and backed the non-competitive emphasis, saying that events for young athletes should do "away with the results, the records, the medals".
"Whatever you are and no matter what size you are, we are all members of a group," China's official news agency Xinhua quoted Yao -- who is listed as 2.29 metres (7ft 6in) tall -- as saying.
More than 3,700 competitors aged 15 to 18 took part, where golf and rugby, in the form of sevens, made their return to the Olympic fold, after gaps of 110 and 90 years respectively.
France won the boys' rugby while Australia won the girls'. Italy's Renato Paratore won the boys' golf, while South Korea's Lee So-Young won the girls' event and Sweden won the mixed team gold.
Competition ended Wednesday and up to 2,000 performers will close the Youth Olympics on Thursday evening in a ceremony about "sharing youth, friendship, and touching moments," according to the website of state broadcaster CCTV.
The only cloud over the event was cast by the west Africa Ebola virus outbreak which prevented 25 athletes from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria from travelling to Nanjing.
Source: AFP