The 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympics ever to be held on African soil, open Saturday in the Senegalese capital marking an historic moment for the continent.
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.
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.
“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,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said Thursday during a press conference in Dakar.
“I think that is really important for our continent”, she said.
Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling, rugby sevens to breaking, will be held across eight venues in three locations.
Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly located some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital, will all host events.
An opening ceremony Saturday evening in Diamniadio will kick off the Games.
A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will participate in the Youth Olympics, with some 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping 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 exercise.
While a sense of excitement is beginning to stir in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics have struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal.
Many 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 this week.
“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol,” he said.
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 early 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.
“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 Anastasia Dobrovolskaya in judo, told AFP earlier this month in Moscow.
However, 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.
