Ai Sugiyama Named Role Model For Youth Olympic Games

(May 5, 2010) Japan’s Ai Sugiyama will represent tennis as an Athlete Role Model at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore on August 14-26th.

The Youth Olympic Tennis Event, for players aged 18-and-under, will be held August 15-21st at the Kallang Tennis Centre.

"I am honored to be selected as an Athlete Role Model. I believe the Youth Olympic Games will be a great event for the young athletes to compete at a grand stage," said Sugiyama. "This should be a great opportunity for the athletes to prepare for their athletic careers. I am looking forward to spending time with the young athletes and the other Athlete Role Models to promote the event for the youth."

Sugiyama, 34, who retired at the end of 2009, won six singles titles and 38 doubles titles in her career. A four-time Olympian (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), she was also a member of Japan’s Fed Cup team for 12 years, more than any other Japanese player in history.

Sugiyama won three Grand Slam doubles titles: the 2000 US Open with Julie Halard-Decugis and the 2003 Roland Garros and Wimbledon championships with Kim Clijsters. She also won the 1999 US Open mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi and was a finalist at seven other Grand Slam tournaments, most recently at the 2009 Australian Open with Daniela Hantuchova. She was named ITF Women’s Doubles World Champion with Halard-Decugis in 2000, and was the No. 1-ranked junior in the world in May, 1991.

The Athlete Role Models program will be implemented by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOCOG) as part of the Culture and Education Programme. The Athlete Role Models are Olympians who exemplify the Olympic values, both on and off the field of play. During the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, they will connect and talk to the athletes and other young people to share their life stories and experiences taking part in competitions.

"Ai Sugiyama is the perfect choice to serve as an Athlete Role Model," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. "She is the consummate professional who took great pride in playing for Japan . I know that she will be an outstanding representative of tennis and of her country and continent in Singapore."

The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will welcome around 5,000 athletes and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs). Young athletes ages 14 to 18 will compete in 26 sports. The Youth Olympic Tennis Event will comprise boys’ and girls’ singles events of 32 players, and boys’ and girls’ doubles events of 16 pairs.