Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games open in Senegal in African first
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Soleil and Africa Top Sports
The opening ceremony for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games was held at the Abdoulaye-Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, attended by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The first edition held in Africa, the YOG brings together around 2,700 athletes in 25 sports over two weeks, according to Le Soleil.
Senegal opened the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) on Saturday with a ceremony at the Abdoulaye-Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, marking the first staging of this Olympic competition in Africa, according to Le Soleil.
The ceremony, attended by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, several foreign leaders and Olympic movement officials, combined artistic performances, choreographies and musical performances centred on Senegalese identity and Africa’s cultural diversity, Le Soleil reports. The two-week competition will bring together around 2,700 athletes in 25 sports.
The opening came after the flag was handed to the 136 Senegalese athletes on 26 October by Bassirou Diomaye Faye, followed by the arrival in Dakar on 30 October of Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio.
