Jon Tibbs, the chief executive of the JTA consultancy, told Legacy Lives that "every bit" of the Sochi brand had to have some relevance to this digital generation.

Speaking on behalf of Sochi 2014 chief executive Dmitry Chernyshenko, he underlined that the Russian city would make full use of social networking, pointing out that, with nearly 60 million Russians involved, Russia was the fourth-biggest social networking community in Europe.

But he emphasised that the legacy of the Games, in what is a Black Sea resort, would be much wider, touching on issues such as environmental and disability awareness, and volunteerism - a concept of which there is little tradition in Russia.

“Sochi is introducing the concept of volunteerism to young people - and they are taking to it,” he said.

“We are in changing times.

"The Olympic Movement has to adapt to those changes.

"Sochi 2014 is in the vanguard of that.”

Alex Chan Meng Wah, Chairman of the Singapore Sports Council, said that not only would young people be competing at this year’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, students would also be capturing the action for a snappily-entitled ‘Whyohgee’ website.

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