PuraVida Sports

Organising Committee President President Mamadou Ndiaye says Senegal ready to welcome world for Games to be held across three host sites in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly

By Elias Makori 

Hosts of the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games are working towards hosting a sustainable event that will benefit the African continent, nurture future champions and also guard against ghost infrastructure projects.

The Dakar 2026 Local Organising Committee tabled its progress report to the 144^th International Olympic Committee Session at Costa Navarino, Greece, on March 20 focusing on progress in venue construction and refurbishment, workforce development, and youth engagement initiatives across Senegal.

Ibrahima Wade, the Chief Executive Officer of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games’ Organising Committee, exclusively told Pura Vida Sports that one main aim of the Dakar Games will be to benefit the continent in v arious ways.

“The motto for Dakar 2026 is ‘Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates’ – this is a way of showing that, as Senegalese, we are not the only ones hosting the event. It is all African countries, and African NOCs, that are involved,” Wade said, noting that they are setting out to live by this promise in three main ways.

“First, we are hiring people from other nationalities, and most of them are African. If you look at our (organizing) team, you will, of course, see Senegalese guys, but also guys from other African nations.

“Secondly, during the launch of our volunteer programme, we counted a lot on volunteers coming from other African countries. This is important because we want to give them the opportunity to empower themselves and be part of sports events in other African countries, and this is a huge legacy.

“Third is regarding athletes and champions – future athletes and future champions and how to make them. This depends on each NOC and national federations in the (African) countries, but all of us can use the Youth Olympic Games to empower athletes and make them future champions for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032).

“We strongly believe that, thanks to the Dakar Youth Olympic Games 2026, all these things will happen.”

A major highlight of the Dakar 2026 build-up was the successful delivery of the third edition of the Dakar en Jeux Festival in November 2024. 

The celebration of sport, culture and education saw thousands of young people engaged in sporting activities across the three host communities of Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, while also featuring an international Under-16 3×3 basketball tournament and health workshops for local children. 

Plans are underway for the next edition in late 2025, which will coincide with the “One Year to Go” milestone and serve as an important testing opportunity for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The Dakar 2026 Organising Committee (YOGOC) continues to strengthen its workforce by incorporating valuable knowledge from the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where staff members were able to gain first-hand experience in the planning and execution of a major international sports event. 

The YOGOC is also expanding its team, with recruitment efforts bolstered by the newly launched Learning Academy. 

This initiative will train up to 400 young professionals, equipping them with essential skills to support the delivery of the Dakar 2026 YOG, while creating a lasting legacy of experienced event organisers in Senegal and across Africa.

Infrastructure preparations for the YOG remain on track, with refurbishment work launched at key urban venues in Dakar and construction progressing at the equestrian centre and the Youth Olympic Village in Diamniadio.

The completed venue master plan includes seven venues across the three host zones that will accommodate competition sites. 

Additionally, Dakar 2026 has strengthened its commercial programme, announcing its first domestic sponsorship deal with telecommunications company Sonatel.

Excitement for the Games is also growing with the launch of the mascot design process, which saw nearly 500 schoolchildren from across Senegal take part in a nationwide competition. 

The official mascot is set to be unveiled in June 2025 to mark 500 days to go until the Games.

Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games’ Organising Committee President President Mamadou Ndiaye said Senegal is ready to welcome the world.

“Senegal is honoured, on behalf of Africa, to welcome the world to the first Olympic Games held on the continent. From the outset, our approach has been focused on inclusion and sharing. This inclusive dimension, inspired by our slogan ‘Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates’, is reflected in every stage of the preparations,” Ndiaye said.

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will take place for two weeks from October 31, 2026, bringing together the world’s best young athletes. 

The Games will be held across three host sites in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly and are expected to be a springboard to greatness for the world’s top youth athletes.

“The role of the Youth Olympic Games is to make young athletes be able to compete in high level competition and prepare themselves for future games, not only the Summer Olympic Games, but also World Championships and other competitions,” Games’ CEO Wade said, noting that the Dakar organisers have been careful to ensure that the venues also don’t turn out to be ‘white elephants’ after the Games.

“We have decided in Dakar not to build high-level infrastructure that will not be used after the Games, and we have taken the opportunity to refurbish some of the venues in the core city for them to be used after the Games.

“We are also focusing a lot on small infrastructure within the city that can be used by young people for training and competition. In Africa we need to shift to small infrastructure, not far from competition venues for the young people to be able to utilize.” (additional reporting by International Olympic Committee) 

• elias.makori@ymail.com