Photo credit, AFP via Getty Images
On Saturday October 31, the Olympic rings will be hoisted for an event organized for the first time on African soil: the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal.
The cities of Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly will host 15 days of competition which will take place until November 13.
Around 2,700 athletes are expected to compete in 25 sporting disciplines, with 153 medal events.
Ten sporting events without medals will also be organized.
What are the Youth Olympic Games?
Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), this event is an elite multi-sport competition aimed primarily at athletes aged 15 to 17.
The objective is not only to inspire young people, but also to promote Olympic values and encourage them to consider sport as a vector of peace and solidarity.
First held in Singapore in 2010, the Youth Olympic Games take several elements of the Senior Games, but add newer sports, mixed events and cultural activities.
Nanjing, China, hosted the second edition in 2014 and Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, four years later.
End of Most read
Dakar was due to host the event in 2022 before the Covid-19 pandemic led to its postponement.
Since its creation, several participants have reached the highest step of the podium at the Olympic Games.
South African swimmer Chad le Clos and British taekwondo athlete Jade Jones participated in the first edition in Singapore and became Olympic champions two years later in London in 2012.
American sprinter Noah Lyles won 200m gold in Nanjing 12 years ago before winning 100m gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Why is this important information for Africa?
Verified information at your fingertips
Click here and subscribe!
End of WhatsApp Promotion
The organization of the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal is a “monumental” event for the continent, according to Christophe Dubi, head of the IOC.
“Africa has hosted many international competitions, but this is the first time we have had an event branded with the Olympic rings,” he told BBC Sport Africa.
Thierno Cisse, deputy director general of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), says the whole country is feeling the weight of the moment.
“We know we are going to be ambassadors for Africa,” he said.
“It is very important for us to proudly represent the entire continent and show that Africa has high standards. »
There is another connection to the height of the Olympic movement.
Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, who last year became the first woman and first African to be elected IOC president, previously chaired the Dakar 2026 coordination commission.
Youth unemployment remains a pressing problem across much of Africa, the world's youngest continent, including Senegal.
While some residents remain skeptical, organizers hope the Games can bring immediate and longer-term benefits through employment, tourism, volunteer programs and skills development.
More than 400 young Africans have already benefited from training in event organization, logistics, technology, accreditation and venue management.
“The impact will be much broader,” Dubi said. “It starts with sport and that’s how it will spread across the continent. »
What sports will be featured at the Youth Olympic Games?
Photo credit, Getty Images
Nineteen of the twenty-five sporting disciplines, including athletics, swimming and events more aimed at young people such as breakdancing and skateboarding, were among those which took place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Beach handball, beach wrestling, futsal and coastal rowing sprints are also included alongside Baseball5 and Wushu Taolu, both of which are making their Youth Olympic debut.
Baseball5, a simplified urban version of traditional baseball requiring no equipment, will launch the competition at Dakar 2026 on Friday October 30.
Wushu Taolu is a modern Chinese martial art practiced competitively through choreographed sequences and training bouts, while coastal rowing takes place at sea, unlike traditional Olympic rowing.
Golf, karate and surfing are among the 10 engagement sports proposed to encourage the participation of local populations.
Climbing, hockey, modern pentathlon, paddle sports (slalom and canoe sprint), shooting, tennis and weightlifting complete the events designed to ensure, for the first time, gender equality at the Youth Olympic Games.
Where will this happen?
Rather than building a costly set of new venues, organizers focused on renovating and repurposing existing facilities that can continue to serve local communities after the Games.
Dakar will host the athletics, rugby sevens and futsal events at the historic Iba Mar Diop complex, while swimming, 3x3 basketball, breakdancing, skateboarding and Baseball5 will take place at the Tour de l'Œuf complex, located on the waterfront.
Road cycling races will be organized along the Corniche Ouest.
The new town of Diamniadio, being developed southeast of Dakar, will serve as the operational center for the Games.
The Abdoulaye Wade stadium will host the opening ceremony and the archery competition, while badminton will take place at the Dakar Arena.
The Dakar exhibition center hosts competitions in gymnastics, fencing, table tennis, judo and wushu taolu.
The Atlantic coast of Senegal, in Saly, offers an ideal setting for sailing, triathlon, beach handball and coastal rowing at Saly Plage Ouest.
The culture behind the Games
These Games are also designed as a celebration of Senegalese and African culture.
The mascot Ayo, a young lion, was designed by a student while another chose the name from the Yoruba word for joy.
The Dakar 2026 medals feature a lion on one side and a baobab on the other, with these images intended to represent both the heritage, resilience and longevity of Senegal and Africa.
The official song "Teranga", which means hospitality in Wolof, is performed by Senegalese artist Mamy Mbaye, and the athletes' village program includes percussion lessons and traditional sabar and djembe dances.
The Olympic flame was lit in Athens on September 10 and arrived in Dakar two days later. Since then, it has traveled approximately 3,600 km across the 14 regions of Senegal, relayed by some 450 torch bearers during 30 stages.
The tour ends on October 30 at Place de la Nation in Dakar, before the flame lights the cauldron during the opening ceremony the next day.
Nigerian wrestling star Blessing Oborududu and Algerian Olympic gymnastics champion Kaylia Nemour are among the personalities recruited to inspire the competitors.
Games ambassadors include Senegalese football team captain Kalidou Koulibaly, Kenyan marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge and social media star Khaby Lame.
Kipchoge took on a particularly important role in mentoring the refugee team which was making its Youth Olympics debut, having previously been featured at the Rio 2016 Senior Games.
Six young athletes, identified through trials and development programs in East Africa, will compete in athletics, judo and taekwondo, and receive education and wellbeing support.
How much does it cost?
Neither the LOC nor the IOC could provide a figure for the cost of the Games when questioned by the BBC, but the Senegalese government has committed to spending at least $60 million (£44.8 million) as part of the hosting contract.
There are also loans, reportedly increasing to around $90m (£67.2m), which are going towards long-term sports infrastructure projects.
The Abdoulaye Wade stadium, inaugurated in 2022, would have cost the sum of $270 million (£202 million).
A post-Games impact report is expected to reveal the final cost, but the LOC and IOC both say the event should be judged by its legacy.
“These Games open the door to a whole range of new sports that are not popular here,” Cissé said.
“Perhaps we will be able to say in 20 years that champions have been discovered. »
For Dubi, ambition goes beyond the borders of Senegal.
“It’s not just about sports. People will be amazed by what they see. »
This is perhaps, in the end, the greatest success of Dakar 2026: not simply bringing the Olympic rings to Africa for the first time, but allowing the world to experience this movement through an African prism.
End of content
We used AI to help translate this article, originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked the translation before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
Discover more
Look!
End of Look!
