Senegal opened the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Saturday, bringing an Olympic event to African soil for the first time in the 130-year history of the modern Games.
According to the Associated Press, about 2,700 young athletes aged 14 to 17 will compete through November 13 in the capital Dakar, the nearby city of Diamniadio and the beach resort of Saly. The opening ceremony took place at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, where President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open.
"Today it's not just a nation that is welcoming the Youth Olympic Games; it's an entire continent that is opening its arms," President Faye said at a sport and development summit on Saturday ahead of the ceremony, according to coverage of the event.
The Games are the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games and feature 25 sports and 153 medal events, from athletics and beach wrestling to rugby sevens and breaking, according to the AP. Senegal is represented by 136 athletes, and about 6,000 local volunteers are supporting the organisation.
According to Reuters, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimming champion and the IOC's first African and first female president, said the Games were ready to deliver despite a four-year postponement. Dakar was awarded the Games in 2018, initially for 2022, before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed them to 2026.
Dakar 2026 is also the first Youth Olympic Games to reach full gender equality across quota places, sports, disciplines and events, according to the IOC, and the first to include a Refugee Olympic Team, with six Africa-based athletes representing displaced people across the continent.
Sources: Associated Press, Reuters