DAKAR, Senegal
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games opened Saturday in Senegal, marking the first Olympic sporting event to be held on African soil and beginning nearly two weeks of competition for thousands of young athletes.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially declared the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games open at Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, outside Dakar. International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry joined Faye at the ceremony.
The Games run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, with 2,655 athletes ages 14 to 17 competing in 153 medal events across 25 sports in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
Athletes represent 204 National Olympic Committees, alongside the Youth Refugee Olympic Team, which is participating in the Youth Olympics for the first time.
The opening ceremony, featuring 1,115 performers, celebrated Senegalese culture and the wider African continent through music, dance, wrestling, visual art and storytelling.
Under the theme “The Flight of Sitoé,” the production followed three symbolic characters representing Africa’s past, present and future: Alkebulan, the mother; her son, Keb; and Sitoé, a young girl embodying the continent’s future.
Nigerian spoken-word artist IB Quake was among the African performers featured in the ceremony.
“And if we can do so much apart, imagine what happens when 54 nations move as one,” she said during her performance.
“Our diversity is our greatest technology. We carry the dream of Alkebulan. We join Sitoé in our inheritance. This is not just any one nation. This is Africa,” she added.
Senegalese artists Baaba Maal, Kiné Lam and Daara J Family also performed, while Gambian kora musician Sona Jobarteh was among artists representing the diversity of African cultural expression.
Traditional Senegalese wrestling, dance and percussion were featured alongside contemporary music, hip-hop and visual arts.
The production included 628 dancers, and nearly 1,500 costumes were made locally with the involvement of about 100 craftspeople and creative professionals.
Greece led the Parade of Nations, followed by the Youth Refugee Olympic Team.
Host nation Senegal entered last, led by flag bearers Ndèye Khady Anna Diatta, a beach wrestler, and taekwondo athlete Ibrahima Bèye. Senegal has 136 athletes competing in 23 sports.
Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer and two-time Olympic champion, highlighted the significance of the Games’ arrival in Africa.
“It makes me incredibly proud to be standing here tonight,” Coventry said. “A proud Zimbabwean. And proud to be an African woman. And so proud that our continent is welcoming the Olympic Movement for the very first time.”
The ceremony concluded with Senegalese fencer Abdourahmane Marième Sy and judoka Aïcha Diop lighting the Youth Olympic cauldron.
Competition began Sunday in sports including judo, swimming, rugby sevens and futsal, opening a new chapter for the Youth Olympic Games after previous editions in Singapore, Nanjing and Buenos Aires.
