Youth Olympics: Senegal opens Africa's first Olympic celebration
· BehindLines newsroom
The 2026 Youth Olympic Games are under way in Senegal. The opening ceremony took place on Saturday, 31 October, in the Dakar region, before about 30,000 people according to France 24. Al Jazeera and Africanews describe the Games as the first Olympic competition held on African soil.
A two-week event across three sites
According to France 24, 2,700 athletes are taking part in the Games, which last fifteen days and bring together 25 sports. Africanews, in an article published on 26 October before the opening, says the competition runs from 31 October to 13 November and that the ceremony was planned for Diamniadio, about 40 kilometres from Dakar. Events are split between Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. The sources do not all give the same figures: France 24 speaks of athletes aged 14 to 17 and 25 sports, while Africanews mentions athletes aged 15 to 18 and 35 sports. These gaps could not be settled here.
Skateboarding makes its debut
Africanews notes that skateboarding enters the Youth Games in Dakar. Skateboarder Sete Awad says the sport has few professionals in Senegal but is "currently growing" there. Student Thomas Dieme says: "It is the very first time that a major competition of this scale has come to Africa." The mascot of these Games is Ayo, a young lion.
A shared pride
Africanews recalls that the Youth Games began in Singapore in 2010. Rose Faye, 30, a Dakar resident who lived in France and has never attended an Olympic Games, says: "Now, they are taking place in my home country, so I am very happy." France 24 stresses that, for the first time, an Olympic competition is being held on African soil.