The event, for 14 to 18 year-olds, has been championed by the Belgian since he became International Olympic Committee chief in 2001 and he deemed it a massive success, despite empty seats at many venues.

“The Youth Olympic Games have vastly exceeded my highest expectations,” he said in his closing press conference.

“I always knew it would be well organised, but I did not expect this level of perfection.

“It has been a big effort but we will not be complacent and we will learn from these Games and go forward from here.”

The Games, which began on August 14, have featured all 26 Olympic sports, with some adapted to appeal more to a younger audience.

They included three-on-three basketball and male and female mixed team events in triathlon and swimming.

In a further quest to tap into youth culture, the Games also embraced YouTube and social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Rogge said he was encouraged by what he had seen.

“By the next Youth Olympic Games, there will be far more media attention.

Here in Singapore, we had 1,100 journalists and 166 broadcasters,” he said.

“There were 5,000 videos downloaded on YouTube and four million people joining the Friends of YOG Facebook page.

“But we will endeavour to help publicise this event and make it even bigger. This is only the very first event.”

All 205 National Olympic Committee members sent athletes to Singapore, with 93 countries winning medals, a wider spread than usually seen at a traditional Olympics.

Rogge said this boded well.

“It is important that new countries win medals,” he said.

The next summer Youth Olympics will be held in Nanjing, China, in 2014 with a winter version in Innsbruck in 2012. - AFP