Olympic Flame Arrives in Senegal for Africa’s First Games

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic flame arrived in Senegal on Saturday, beginning a journey that will carry the energy of the Games across the country ahead of the first Olympic sporting event ever held on African soil.

After being lit at the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on 10 September, the Youth Olympic flame reached Senegal for a celebration bringing together young people, athletes, cultural figures and communities.

The flame’s arrival marks another major milestone on the road to Dakar 2026, which will take place from 31 October to 13 November.

The Olympic flame was welcomed by music and dancing in Senegal capital, as a march by 100 women marked the countdown to the first Olympic sporting event ever held on the African continent.

More than a hundred people gathered at Dakar’s Place du Souvenir Africain, a waterfront plaza overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by portraits of prominent figures from Africa and its diaspora, to greet the flame ahead of the Youth Olympic Games next month.

The event, will bring together about 2,700 young athletes to compete in 35 sports across Dakar and the nearby cities Diamniadio and Saly.

The Youth Olympics, first held in Singapore in 2010, are a smaller version of the Olympic Games for athletes aged 15 to 18.

The flame was carried on Saturday by 100 Senegalese women, known as “lingeer” — a title for queens or royal women in Wolof, one of the main languages of Senegal. They included influential actors from the cultural, sports and economic sectors.

Dressed in flowing orange and golden traditional dresses with yellow headwraps, they carried the flame to the plaza in a procession celebrating Senegalese women and the passing of values between generations.

Gacirah Diagne, one of the lingeer, said “the Games will inspire young people across Africa, the continent with the world’s youngest population.”

Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue lit the Olympic cauldron at the ceremony.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry witnessed the historic moment when the cauldron was lit at Place du Souvenir.

Asked about the significance of an Olympic sports event taking place on African soil for the first time, President Coventry said she hoped it would serve as inspiration to “young people and generations to come”.

“The goal is that it won’t just impact the youngsters coming here, but when they go home, they’ll talk about the values and the inspiration of the Games that is created within them,” President Coventry said.

The flame left the Greek capital, Athens, on Thursday, where it was lit using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, following Olympic tradition, before being handed to Senegal at the Panathenaic Stadium.

It will begin a 3,600-kilometer tour of Senegal on Monday, traveling through all 14 regions with over 400 Senegalese torchbearers before returning to the capital for the official opening ceremony.