Dakar – Senegal has made Olympic history by hosting the first Olympic event on African soil, as the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games officially opened in Diamniadio, near the capital Dakar, bringing together thousands of young athletes from across the world for two weeks of competition.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open on Saturday, October 31, during a ceremony at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium. The event was attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry and Dakar 2026 organising committee chief Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye.
The opening ceremony celebrated Senegalese identity and African culture through traditional dances, music, elaborate light displays and artistic performances. More than 1,100 performers took part in the programme, including hundreds of dancers, according to the IOC.
Athletes and officials representing participating delegations also took part in the traditional parade, marking the start of the competition.
President Faye praised the ceremony in a post on X on Sunday, describing it as a moment that showcased Senegal’s cultural heritage to an international audience.
“Authentic Senegal! What a people! What a culture! Tonight, we showed the world the beauty of what we are,” he wrote, while thanking those involved in organising the event.
Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, welcomed the young competitors and spoke about the significance of bringing the Olympic movement to Africa for the first time.
“This is the Africa that I am so proud and so excited for the world to experience,” Coventry said.
The ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, following a torch relay that travelled more than 3,600 kilometres through all 14 regions of Senegal.
Russia was represented by 13 athletes carrying the country’s flag during the opening ceremony, according to the Russian Olympic Committee. Russian competitors are taking part under their national symbols at an IOC event for the first time since 2020, following restrictions introduced after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022.
The Games run from October 31 to November 13, with approximately 2,700 athletes representing 204 National Olympic Committees and a refugee team.
The competition was initially scheduled for 2022 but was postponed by four years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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