Dakar opens Youth Olympics, first Olympic Games held in Africa
- The 2026 Youth Olympic Games open in Dakar on Saturday, the first Olympics staged on African soil.
- About 2,665 athletes aged 14 to 17 from around the world will compete in 25 sports and 153 medal events.
- Russian athletes return under their own flag, and a refugee team made up mainly of Africa-based athletes is taking part.
Senegal's capital Dakar hosts the opening of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Saturday, the first Olympic competition ever staged on the African continent. The opening ceremony holds on Saturday evening in Diamniadio, a nearby suburb of the capital, and signals the start of competition across 25 sports and 153 medal events.
Roughly 2,665 young athletes, aged 14 to 17, have gathered for the Games. They will compete at eight venues spread across three locations: Dakar itself, Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, about 80 kilometres from the capital.
The programme runs from athletics and rugby sevens to beach wrestling and breaking. Senegal is fielding 136 athletes of its own, and about 6,000 Senegalese volunteers are helping to run the event.
Pride at home, worry about prices
Banners reading "Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates" are up around the city. Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo told AFP that once the Games begin, Dakar becomes the capital of African youth, and called Africa hosting the Olympics a symbol.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, a former swimmer from Zimbabwe, said visitors who arrived with a different picture of Africa would hopefully leave with something positive in mind. She called that important for the continent.
Excitement in Senegal is nonetheless muted. According to the reporting, many residents are more focused on the cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship than on the Games.
Russia back, and a refugee team
These Games 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. The IOC effectively lifted the Russian Olympic Committee's suspension in July.
The Russian Olympic Committee says 13 athletes and 10 coaches are in Senegal. Each sport's international federation still decides whether Russian entries are allowed. A coach in Moscow, Anzor Gaunov, told AFP his athletes were excited that their right to compete with the national anthem and Russian flag had been restored.
A refugee team, drawn mainly from athletes living in Africa, is also taking part.
The IOC has described the Dakar Games as a milestone that shows off Senegal's culture and Africa's growing weight in the Olympic movement. South Africa, which hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics and could become the first African country to stage the senior Games.
What happens next: Competition runs over the coming days in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, with medals decided in 153 events.
