Senegal will stage the opening ceremony of Dakar 2026 on Saturday, 31 October, marking the first Olympic sporting event held in Africa.
The Youth Olympic Games will bring together approximately 2,700 young athletes, according to the International Olympic Committee. The programme runs until 13 November across Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
Competition will begin before the opening ceremony. The IOC’s current media kit lists baseball5 starting on 30 October, with 153 medal events across 25 competition sports during the Games. A further 10 engagement sports form part of the programme.
Eight venues will host competitions. Saly Beach will accommodate six sports, including beach handball and coastal rowing. Corniche West will host road cycling and a zone where visitors can try engagement sports. The Youth Olympic Village is at Amadou Mahtar Mbow University in Diamniadio.
Dakar will also become the first Youth Olympic Games to include a Refugee Olympic Team. The six athletes, based in Kenya and Uganda, will compete in athletics, judo and taekwondo.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio. The official ticketing platform lists a 17:45 GMT start on 31 October. The Youth Olympic cauldron will subsequently be located at Corniche West, where it is due to remain alight throughout the Games.
The flame was lit at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on 10 September and arrived in Senegal two days later. Its national tour was designed to take sporting, cultural and educational celebrations through all 14 regions before the opening.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry described the arrival of Olympic competition in Africa as “a proud moment for Senegal” and “a proud moment for Africa” at the September lighting ceremony.
The Games were originally planned for 2022 before being postponed to 2026. When approving the revised dates, the IOC said the timetable took account of school and university calendars, weather and other international events. The competition period includes Africa Youth Day on 1 November.
Senegal has also been preparing security arrangements across the three host areas. Interior and Public Security Minister Mouhamadou Makhtar Cissé outlined coordination between the police, gendarmerie, armed forces, firefighters, medical staff and rescue services during an interview on the Senegalese broadcaster RTS.
RTS’s account of the 22 October broadcast said the arrangements included operational coordination centres and exercises to test responses. Cissé stressed that protecting visiting delegations should not displace the services’ ordinary responsibility to protect people and property in Senegal.
The IOC’s ticketing announcement set competition admission from 1,000 CFA francs and day passes from 1,500 CFA francs. It listed opening ceremony seats at 5,000 and 9,000 CFA francs, with free entry to fan zones.
More than 300,000 tickets were set aside for young people, schools, sports clubs and community organisations through a solidarity programme. These are the organisers’ announced allocations and starting prices, rather than a count of seats still available.
The cultural programme includes Ayo, a young lion chosen as the official mascot. Its name means joy in Yoruba, while its traditional Fulani Tingandé hat reflects Senegalese cultural heritage. The design emerged from a nationwide competition for middle- and secondary-school pupils that received more than 500 entries.
Tickets are sold through the official Dakar 2026 platform. The IOC says buyers must create an account before selecting competition sessions or passes.
Photograph: Salma03regine, Dakar 2026 flame relay in Diamniadio, 26 September 2026. Source, CC0 1.0. Resized archive photograph; it does not show the forthcoming opening ceremony.
