DAKAR — Africa hosted an Olympic event for the first time in its history on Saturday night, as Senegal opened the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games with a parade of nations at the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio, near the capital.
Source: IANS
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye formally opened the Games before the Youth Olympic flame completed its journey across Senegal with the lighting of the cauldron. “I declare open the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar,” Faye announced at the stadium, AFP reported.
Source: AFP via EuropeSays
Speaking at a sport and development summit earlier on Saturday, Faye said: “Today it's not just a nation that is welcoming the Youth Olympic Games, it's an entire continent that is opening its arms.” He noted that 130 years of Olympic history had passed before the Olympic flame ever landed on African soil, and said the Games would show the continent's “collective capacity to transform sport into an economic and social engine”, AFP reported.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, told the athletes: “For years, we have talked about this moment. The first Olympic sporting event on African soil.” She added: “This is the Africa that I am so proud of and so excited for the world to experience. And it makes me incredibly proud to be standing here tonight; a proud Zimbabwean, proud to be an African woman, and so proud that our continent is welcoming the Olympic Movement for the very first time.”
Source: IANS
As at every Games, Greece led the Parade of Nations, the Refugee Olympic Team followed in second place and the hosts Senegal came out last, IANS reported. Most delegations were represented by two flagbearers — one girl and one boy carrying the flag together. India have sent a 17-member contingent of 11 women and six men across 11 sports, with Paris 2024 Olympian swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu and shuttler Dev Ruparelia as the flagbearers.
The opening ceremony celebrated Senegal's tradition of teranga, or hospitality, through a journey connecting Africa's past, present and future, centred on three symbolic characters — Alkebulan, Keb and Sitoe — and exploring how cultural heritage passes between generations. Signs reading “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are displayed across the host city, AFP reported.
Dakar 2026 is the first Olympic event ever staged in Africa. The Games were originally scheduled for 2022 and were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also see Russian athletes return to the Olympics and include a refugee team, competing across eight venues in Dakar, Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, about 80 km from the capital.
Competition runs from October 31 to November 13, with athletes aged 14 to 17 taking part — AFP put the field at nearly 2,700 young competitors. The first medals were due to be decided on Sunday in swimming and judo.