Bassirou Diomaye Faye opens Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics in Senegal
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Bamada.net and Mali Actu
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially opened the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Saturday 31 October at the Abdoulaye-Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, according to Bamada.net and Mali Actu. Nearly 207 national Olympic committees are taking part in the event, the first to be held in Africa, according to the two media outlets.
The ceremony lasted nearly two hours and combined music, dance, light projections and pyrotechnic effects, featuring Baba Maal, Daara J and a sequence devoted to traditional wrestling known as “Bakku”. It brought together nearly 11,000 participants, including 700 artists, dancers and actors. Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, and Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, president of the organising committee, spoke before the opening was proclaimed, reports Mali Actu.
Fencers Abdou Rahmane and Marième Sy lit the cauldron after receiving the torch from former athlete Amadou Dia Ba, Senegal’s only Olympic medallist. The relay travelled more than 3,600 kilometres across Senegal’s 14 regions, Mali Actu reports. The events, intended for athletes aged 14 to 17, are being held from 31 October to 13 November in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, according to Bamada.net and Mali Actu.
Mali is represented in particular by a delegation of aquatic sports athletes and the young athlete Younoussa Maïga. The team is led by Malikite Mohamed, national technical director, according to the Malian Swimming and Lifesaving Federation, cited by Mali Actu.
The opening followed the arrival in Dakar of Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio on 30 October. The previous day, Bassirou Diomaye Faye had called for the Youth Olympic Games to be used as a lever for job creation, Bamada.net reports.
