Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: 2,655 young athletes and 204 Olympic committees for the first Olympic event in Africa

Senegal opens the Dakar Youth Olympic Games this Saturday, October 31, 2026, at the Abdoulaye-Wade Stadium in Diamniadio: the first Olympic competition in history to be organized on African soil. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) expects 2,655 athletes aged 14 to 17, representing 204 national Olympic committees, for two weeks of events running until November 13, 2026.

The wait has been long: until this Saturday, no Olympic movement event had ever been held on the continent, as the IOC reminds us. The motto chosen by the organizers states the stakes clearly: "Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates." The competitions are spread across three cities—Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly—and eight venues, including the Dakar Arena, the Iba-Mar-Diop Stadium, and the west beach of Saly.

A global first for gender parity

Beyond the continental symbolism, these Games mark another first: according to the IOC, this is the first edition of the YOG to achieve full gender parity across all quotas, sports, disciplines, and events. The program includes 25 competitive sports and 153 medal events, consisting of 73 for men, 73 for women, and seven mixed events. Ten additional sports, known as engagement sports, are offered for discovery, ranging from surfing and climbing to karate and weightlifting.

For the first time in YOG history, a Refugee Olympic Team is also taking part in the events: six athletes, all based in Africa, according to the IOC. The flame traveled through fourteen regions of the country in thirty stages before returning to Dakar.

Senegalese figures

The organization relies heavily on the youth of the host country: 6,000 volunteer positions were opened as part of the "Jambaar26" program, receiving 23,000 applications, the IOC specifies. More than 960,000 tickets have been put on sale, with prices starting at 1,000 CFA francs for general disciplines so that Senegalese families can fill the stands. The IOC has announced approximately 507 hours of broadcasting.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye hosted his counterparts Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone and Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania in Dakar on October 30, 2026, for the Sport and Development Summit and the ceremony, reports Senegal24News. IOC President Kirsty Coventry is also expected in Diamniadio.

African delegations will be out in force to test their skills. The Democratic Republic of Congo is fielding nine athletes in eight disciplines, including Chadrack Vungu in athletics, Stephy Tsimba in wrestling, and Charly Maliabo in cycling, according to Radio Okapi. The Youth Olympic Village has been set up on the campus of the Amadou-Mahtar-Mbow University in Diamniadio.