Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: The flame of a historic first in Africa enters Dakar, carried by 100 Linguères

From Athens to Dakar, the flame for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) entered Senegal amidst an atmosphere of emotion and popular enthusiasm on Saturday, September 12, 2026. After a stop at the Presidential Palace, the Olympic flame was carried by   A procession of 100 women dressed in large, bright yellow and red boubous marched for over a kilometer to the Place du Souvenir Africain in Dakar. A powerful event that blended heritage, women's sport, and popular enthusiasm.

The ceremony also took on a festive air. Several Senegalese artists entertained the audience during the various segments of this solemn Olympic ritual. The flame thus left the institutional setting to meet the people of Dakar.

For Djirèye Clotilde Coly, Minister of Sports, emotions were already running high in Athens, the Greek capital, where she had attended the lighting ceremony. She praised the seriousness and solemnity with which the Olympic tradition is upheld in Greece, before congratulating the Organizing Committee for the Youth Olympic Games (COJOJ) and the Linguères (Greek women's national football team) for their performance in Dakar.

Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), emphasized the significance of these Games, the first of their kind to be held in Africa. She sees their location in Dakar as an opportunity to showcase the continent in a new light. "It will probably change a lot of perceptions about Africa," she said. She also hopes this event will inspire young Africans and give them greater confidence in their abilities.

With 49 days to go until the opening, Prime Minister Al Aminou Lô recalled the years of preparation dedicated to this event and invited every Senegalese citizen to make it a historic moment. The mayor of the Senegalese capital, for his part, praised the work accomplished and called for overcoming the challenges related to organization, mobilization, and event promotion.

After Dakar, the flame will continue its journey across Senegal. From September 14 to 27, it will travel through the Dakar region. It will then visit other regions from September 29 to October 24, before returning to the capital from October 28 to 30.

In total, the flame will travel through all 14 regions of the country in 30 stages. It will complete its journey on October 30, before the lighting of the cauldron during the Youth Olympic Games opening ceremony on October 31. The Games will continue until November 13, 2026.

Across Senegal, the flame thus accompanies the countdown to an event that aims to write African youth into a new chapter of Olympic history.