Youth Olympic Games open in Senegal, the first Olympic sporting event on African soil
31 October 2026
The Youth Olympic Games have opened in Senegal, which the International Olympic Committee calls the first Olympic sporting event to be held on African soil. Saturday's Opening Ceremony was staged at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, which seats 50,000 and stands in Diamniadio. That town sits roughly 30 kilometres away from Dakar, the Senegalese capital. The ceremony began a fortnight of sport and cultural exchange. The Youth Olympic Games is the IOC's own competition for teenaged athletes, run apart from the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Senegal is a country on Africa's west coast, and this edition takes its name from Dakar.
In plain words
YOG Youth Olympic Games — The International Olympic Committee's multi-sport event for young athletes, held separately from the Olympic Games.
IOC International Olympic Committee — The body based at Lausanne in Switzerland that governs the Olympic movement.