Olympic flame lights up Senegal as 2026 Youth Games officially opens

Amid drums, dance and symbols linking generations, the Dakar 2026 Youth Games officially opened on Saturday at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, with a ceremony celebrating the staging of an Olympic event in Africa for the first time.

At the 55,000-capacity venue, some 30 kilometres from Dakar, the two-hour spectacle drew on teranga, the Senegalese spirit of hospitality, to explore Africa’s heritage, identity and aspirations, reflecting a continent determined to tell its own story.

Khady Niang, the organising committee’s director of ceremonies, said the production aimed to “tell the world who we are, where we come from and where we want to go”.

Traditional African drums, including the sabar, tama and djembe, set the rhythm for a musical celebration featuring the female percussionists of Les Rosettes and singer Kiné Lam.

The programme also featured the simb, a traditional “false lion” dance associated with Senegalese folk theatre, and the bakk, a ritual dance performed before Senegalese wrestling bouts by around 100 wrestlers, including Modou Lô and Eumeu Sène.

Against this narrative backdrop, the ceremony moved on to the parade of flags, bringing representatives of the participating delegations into the stadium, led by Greece in keeping with Olympic tradition.

Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, spoke of her pride at seeing the continent host an Olympic event. “This is the Africa that I am so proud and so excited for the world to experience”, she said.

The former Zimbabwean swimmer also urged the young athletes to believe in their abilities, discover other cultures and make the most of an experience that goes beyond sporting results.

Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, formally declared the Games open, prompting further celebrations as chants from the crowd accompanied a series of sporting demonstrations, culminating in a choreographed display of the Olympic rings and the Dakar 2026 emblem.

Attention then turned to the arrival of the Olympic flame, lit in Athens on September 10, before travelling more than 3,600 kilometres across Senegal’s 14 regions on its way to the stadium. – insidethegames

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