Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics open tonight: Africa's first Olympic event brings 2,700 athletes to Senegal until November 13

Africa gets its first Olympic event tonight. The 2026 Youth Olympic Games open at Diamniadio, outside Senegal's capital Dakar, at 17:45 local time on Saturday, and run until November 13. About 2,700 young athletes are expected across 25 competition sports.

No Olympic competition of any kind has been held on the continent before. The original Games and the Winter Games have never come to Africa, which makes these teenagers the first to carry the flag there. The official motto is "Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates".

Dakar 2026 at a glance

Detail	Fact
Dates	October 31 – November 13, 2026
Opening ceremony	Saturday, 17:45 in Senegal (17:45 GMT)
Time in Pakistan / India	22:45 PKT / 23:15 IST
Ceremony venue	Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, Diamniadio
Athletes	About 2,700
Sports	25 competition sports plus 10 engagement sports
Ceremony cast	About 11,000 performers, including 700 dancers
Stage director	Adama Diop

Published counts of medal events differ slightly between sources, so we have left that figure out until the final programme is confirmed.

Eight years of waiting, and one pandemic

Dakar won the right to host at the International Olympic Committee session in Buenos Aires in October 2018, with the Games then planned for 2022. In July 2020, with the pandemic disrupting the world sporting calendar, the IOC and the Senegalese government agreed to push them back four years.

The delay left Senegal more time to build out Diamniadio, the new city east of Dakar where the stadium stands. It also changed who is watching from the VIP seats. Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, the first woman and first African to lead the IOC, will open her first Youth Olympics in charge on her home continent. Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is also due to attend.

Coventry has promised an "incredible show". Organisers say the ceremony will feature about 11,000 performers, 700 of them dancers.

How to get there, and how to watch

Spectators in Senegal have been told that highway exits, free parking and free buses have been arranged for the ceremony, with the area around the stadium expected to be busy from the afternoon. Anyone travelling should check those arrangements with the organisers before leaving.

Outside Senegal, Olympic broadcasters are carrying the ceremony in many countries, and the Olympic website and channels are publishing coverage from the Games. CBC in Canada has listed the ceremony on its streaming service. Local rights vary, so check your national Olympic broadcaster.

Why a teenage competition matters

The Youth Olympics are aimed at young athletes and combine sport with education and cultural programmes. Previous summer editions were held in Singapore in 2010, Nanjing in 2014 and Buenos Aires in 2018. Past competitors have gone on to the senior Games, so this fortnight can give an early look at future Olympic names.

For African sport, the wider test is what remains afterwards. African countries have long argued that the continent is able to host a major Olympic event. A smooth fortnight in Senegal would strengthen that case when discussions turn to the senior Games, which Africa has also never staged.

First medals next

Saturday's ceremony opens two weeks of competition, with the Games closing on November 13.