The 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever to be held on African soil, opened on Saturday in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
Signs reading “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are visible across the city, which is hosting about 2,665 young athletes aged 14 to 17 from around the world.
The Games mark the return of Russian athletes to the Olympics and also include a refugee team. In total, the athletes will compete in 25 sports and 153 medal events.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said the event would change how the world sees Africa.
“We’ve got people from around the world that maybe had a very different idea about Africa and they’re going to leave, hopefully, with something really positive in mind,” she said on Thursday at a press conference in Dakar.
“I think that is really important for our continent,” she added.
Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling, rugby sevens to breaking will take place at eight venues across three locations.
Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, about 80 kilometres from the capital, will all host events.
An opening ceremony on Saturday evening in Diamniadio will officially kick off the Games.
A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will take part, with about 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping to run the event.
The West African nation is known for its sports culture, including its football team, traditional wrestling and surf scene. Football fans and young people often organise impromptu matches in the evenings or at weekends on the beach or in village squares.
As the day cools, hundreds of people flock to Dakar’s famous coastal road, the Corniche, to run, do strength training or join group exercise.
While excitement is building in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics has struggled to stir strong enthusiasm across Senegal, where many are more concerned about 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,” Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo said in an interview with AFP this week.
“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol,” he said.
With the IOC effectively lifting the Russian Olympic Committee’s suspension in July, the Youth Games will be the first Olympic competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 in which Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag and colours.
According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will take part, and 10 coaches will travel with them to Senegal.
“The kids are excited, it’s good news that our legitimate right to participate with the national anthem and Russian flag has been restored,” Anzor Gaunov, who coaches judoka Anastasia Dobrovolskaya, told AFP earlier this month in Moscow.
However, each sport’s international federation will decide whether to allow the Russian athletes to compete.
The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, made up mainly of athletes based in Africa.
The IOC has described the Dakar Games as an important milestone for the continent and a chance to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role in the Olympics.
South Africa could become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already hosted the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics.
