Senegal to Host Africa’s First Olympic Event with Youth Games 2026

 The first Olympic sporting event to take place on African soil will be the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Dakar 2026, scheduled to run from October 31 to November 13, 2026 in Senegal.

This historic event will bring together 2,700 of the world’s top young athletes and will be hosted across three locations: Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly. 

Dakar 2026 is expected to serve as a catalyst for transforming Senegal through sport while also inspiring hope, opportunity, and confidence among young people across Africa.

The event’s motto, “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates,” reflects the continent’s hospitality, passion for sport, and the significance of hosting an Olympic event for the first time.

The Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee has emphasised that the Games are designed for the entire African continent. 

The competition programme will feature 25 sports, with each sport showcasing one discipline. The selected disciplines include athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, Baseball5, basketball (3×3), boxing, breaking, road cycling, equestrian jumping, fencing, futsal, artistic gymnastics, beach handball, judo, coastal rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, street skateboarding, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, and wushu. 

In addition to the main competition events, an engagement programme will promote ten additional sports through interactive activities and digital platforms. These sports include canoe-kayak, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis, and weightlifting. 

Dakar 2026 will be the first Summer Youth Olympic Games to achieve full gender equality.

The Games will feature 151 events, equally divided between male and female athletes, with seven mixed-gender events. 

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