Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: A Historic Moment for the African Continent and Senegal, and an Opportunity to Strengthen Cooperation with Qatar

“Africa Welcomes, Dakar Celebrates”—this is the motto of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG26), which will be held from October 31 to November 13, 2026, in Senegal. This motto symbolizes the warm hospitality of the African continent combined with the festive energy of the Senegalese capital.

This will be the first Olympic event held on the African continent. In other words, it’s a historic event. Jordan AYEW, the soccer player and captain of Ghana’s national team during the last World Cup, was spot on when he said that “for the young people who will be there, it will be an opportunity to have fun, do what they love, and make history”: “Go there to win. Go there to make history,” he urges them.

Dakar 2026 also represents another historic opportunity: for the first time, the Olympic spirit will be celebrated in a country with a large Muslim majority. These Games thus offer an exceptional platform to promote, among the world’s youth, the universal values of respect, brotherhood, solidarity, and excellence—values that also resonate deeply with the values of Islam. I can cite, for example, respect for others; discipline; pushing one’s limits; honesty and fair play.

The YOG are currently being promoted worldwide by:

- Khaby Lame (an Italian-Senegalese influencer and the world’s most-followed creator on TikTok);

- Omar Sy: an international actor deeply connected to his Senegalese roots;

- Kalidou Koulibaly: the iconic captain of Senegal’s national soccer team;

- Eva Neymar: also appointed to give the event’s communications global reach.

In addition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has appointed renowned athletes whose mission will be to provide personalized support to young competitors and lead training workshops focusing in particular on career management, injury prevention, and mental preparation.

Among them are France’s Clarisse Agbegnenou, the 2021 Olympic champion in Tokyo and multiple world champion in the under-63-kg judo division; American rower Christopher Bak; Spanish handball player Asunción Batista; Ivorian taekwondo athlete Ruth Gbagbi; Brazilian karateka Douglas Brose; and Algerian gymnast Kaylia Nemour, the 2024 Olympic champion and gold medalist on the uneven bars at the 2025 World Championships.

The fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games will thus bring together youth and sport in a peaceful competition and foster the transformation of Senegal, the host country, while serving as a source of inspiration for all of Africa.

Across the eight venues spread out between Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly, what a joy it will be to see these 2,700 young athletes representing the 206 National Olympic Committees, alongside the Refugee Olympic Team, coming from all corners of the globe to compete in 25 sports—running, jumping, swim, shoot, score, celebrate their victories, bite down hard on their hard-won medals, and cheer on the valiant losers!

In this global geopolitical context fraught with uncertainty, conflict, and discord, what a comfort it is to see this multicultural, multicolored, and multifaith global youth come together, compete in their diversity and differences, and congratulate and celebrate one another—for it is the diversity of flowers that makes a garden beautiful!

Beyond the athletic competitions, Dakar 2026 will also feature a wide-ranging program of participatory sports and cultural activities, offering young people the opportunity to meet, learn, and exchange ideas centered on Olympic values.

For Senegal, the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games represent much more than a sporting event: they are a project to transform the country’s youth, its international image, and its economy.

Indeed, this event presents many challenges for Senegal, among which I can mention:

- The sporting challenges, of course, which are:

• Promoting sports participation among young people;

• Identifying and supporting new Senegalese talent;

• Diversifying sports disciplines, particularly with breaking, skateboarding, 5-a-side baseball, 3x3 basketball, etc.;

• Using the YOG as a catalyst for the development of women’s sports.

- The Challenge for Youth

The goal is to leave a human legacy, not just infrastructure. With this in mind, the Dakar 2026 Learning Academy program aims, among other things, to train more than 400 young professionals in careers related to the organization of sporting events. The Dakar en Jeux program also allows young people to discover different sports and the Olympic values.

- The Diplomatic and Geopolitical Implications

Given the historic nature of the first Olympic event in Africa, Dakar 2026 gives Senegal significant symbolic weight and an exceptional opportunity to strengthen its influence in Africa, demonstrate its organizational capabilities, increase its international visibility, and ultimately position Dakar as an African capital of sports and youth.

N

H.E. Mr. Cheikh Tidiane SALL

Ambassador of Senegal to Qatar