On Thursday 15th May, a host of Scottish sports stars teamed up to lend their support to Edinburgh’s biggest ever youth games event.

Olympic hopefuls Gregor Tait, Kris Gilchrist and Kirsty Balfour kicked off the 2008 Edinburgh Airport Youth Games, supported by Edinburgh Leisure.

This year’s event is the biggest in its nine year history with more than 1,600 youngsters from nearly 50 schools in the Capital taking part.

The trio of swimmers, who are set to compete in this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, helped the schools celebrate the opening ceremony.

Gymnastics display team The Spartans and Forth One presenter Mark Martin also joined the throng for the pre-Games warm up.

The Youth Games is an opportunity for hundreds of local school children to take part in activities and competition in a variety of sports, including: athletics, basketball, football, golf, hockey, rugby and tennis.

Scottish rugby players David Callum and Craig Hamilton also touched down at the Games for the afternoon cool down session, along with Forth One’s Boogie in the Morning.

Double Commonwealth champion Gregor Tait said: "We’ve got the excitement and challenge of Beijing coming up, then the 2012 Olympics in London and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games after that. This is Scotland’s chance to really promote our sporting talent and it’s great to see so many young people energised by sport at events like this."

BAA Scotland Head of Communications Kevin Lang said: "We’re delighted to be able to support what is a great day of fitness and fun for hundreds of local children. We’re celebrating this being an Olympic year and are delighted to have three of Scotland’s hopefuls for Beijing here. They are a real inspiration to the sports stars of the future, and help to drive home the importance of keeping fit and participation in sport."

Director of Customer Services at Edinburgh Leisure Neil Brown added: ""The ethos of the Games is as much about participation as it is about competition and so, hopefully, the success of this year's event will encourage some of the 1,600-plus participants to take up a new sport or activity – and to adopt a healthier, happier lifestyle."