Dakar Youth Olympics open in Senegal, the first Olympic event ever held in Africa

The Youth Olympic Games opened in Dakar, Senegal, on Saturday, October 31, making history as the first Olympic sporting event ever held on African soil.

Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, outside the capital, with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry in attendance.

A celebration of Africa

The ceremony celebrated Senegalese and wider African culture with about 1,100 performers, around 700 of them dancers, according to Olympics.com.

The Youth Olympic flame arrived after a relay through all 14 of Senegal's administrative regions. The cauldron was lit by fencer Abdourahmane Marième Sy and judoka Aïcha Diop. In the parade of nations, Greece entered first, as is Olympic tradition, followed by a Refugee Youth Olympic Team, the first time such a team has taken part in the Youth Games.

The Games

Nearly 3,000 athletes aged 15 to 18, from more than 200 national Olympic committees, are competing in Dakar. The Games run until November 13.

New events include wushu taolu, a Chinese martial art, while Baseball5, a fast, street version of baseball, began competition a day before the opening ceremony. Nigeria and other African nations are fielding teams across a wide range of sports.

Why it matters

Africa is the only inhabited continent never to have hosted the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. Dakar was awarded the Youth Olympics in 2018 for 2022, but the event was postponed by four years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For African sport, the Games are a chance to show the continent can stage major multi-sport events, to inspire young athletes and to leave a legacy of facilities. Many see them as a stepping stone towards a future bid to bring the full Summer Olympics to Africa.

For the athletes, the Youth Olympics are often an early glimpse of future stars: many past competitors have gone on to win medals at the senior Games.