Senegal kicks off Youth Games, Africa’s first Olympics

DAKAR – The 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the first Olympics ever to be held on African soil, opened on Oct 31 in the Senegalese capital, marking a historic moment for the continent.

“I declare open the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar,” announced Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye at the Abdoulaye Wade stadium in Diamniadio, a suburb of Dakar.

Signs proclaiming “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are abundant across Dakar, which is hosting some 2,665 young competitors aged 14 to 17 from around the world.

Singapore, who hosted the inaugural YOG in 2010, are represented at the Oct 31-Nov 13 Dakar Games by 14 athletes competing in archery, athletics, badminton, 3x3 basketball, fencing, artistic gymnastics, sailing, table tennis and wushu.

At the opening ceremony, table tennis player Loy Ming Ying, 15, and shuttler Zack Ng, 17, were proud and thrilled to be the flagbearers for the Republic.

“There were many emotions going on. Before marching out as flag bearer, I was a bit nervous and excited. Then after walking out, I was feeling proud and happy,” said Zack.

The event marks the return of Russian athletes to the Olympics and also includes a refugee team. Overall, the athletes will compete across 25 sports and 153 medal events.

“Today, it’s not just a nation that is welcoming the Youth Olympic Games, it’s an entire continent that is opening its arms,” Faye told a sport and development summit on Oct 31 ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony.

The Games will not only celebrate champions, but also “our collective capacity to transform sport into an economic and social engine”, he said, emphasising that 130 years of Olympic history had passed before the Olympic flame landed on African soil.

Sports ranging from athletics and beach wrestling to rugby sevens and breaking will be held across eight venues in three locations.

Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, located some 80km from the capital, will all host events.

“For years, we have talked about this moment – the first Olympic sporting event on African soil,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said in her opening address.

“And now, here we are. This historic moment is for Senegal and for Africa. And for our entire Olympic Movement.”

Coventry added: “This is the Africa that I am so proud and so excited for the world to experience.

“It makes me incredibly proud to be standing here tonight. A proud Zimbabwean. And proud to be an African woman. And so proud that our continent is welcoming the Olympic Movement for the very first time.”

According to Coventry, the opening ceremony was televised live in more than 30 countries, with every African nation having committed to showing the Games live.

Sports culture

A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will participate in the Youth Olympics, with some 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping to put on the event.

The west African nation is renowned for its sports culture, including its football team, traditional wrestling and surf scene.

Football enthusiasts and young people often organise impromptu matches in the evenings or weekends on the beach or in village squares.

And as the day cools, hundreds of people flock to Dakar’s iconic coastal road, the Corniche, to run, do strength training or take part in group exercises.

While a sense of excitement is beginning to stir in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics has struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal. Many people are more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.

“Once the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal begin, Dakar will become the capital of African youth,” Senegal Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo said in an interview with AFP last week.

“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol,” he said.

Russian athletes

With the IOC effectively lifting the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) suspension in July, the Youth Games will mark the first Olympic competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in which Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag and colours.

According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will participate and 10 coaches will accompany them to Senegal. But it is up to each sport’s international federation whether to authorise the Russian athletes’ participation.

The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, composed primarily of athletes based in Africa.

The IOC has called the Dakar Games an important milestone for the continent and an opportunity to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role within the Olympics.

South Africa could potentially become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already paved the way by hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics. AFP