{"id":5985,"date":"2026-11-01T23:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T23:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/senegal-kicks-off-africas-first-youth-olympic-games-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T23:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T23:00:54","slug":"senegal-kicks-off-africas-first-youth-olympic-games-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/senegal-kicks-off-africas-first-youth-olympic-games-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal kicks off Africa\u2019s first Youth Olympic Games \u2013 Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games<\/a> officially kicked off in Senegal on Saturday, marking the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil as the continent seeks a bigger role in international sporting competitions.\n<\/p>\n

Thousands of spectators gathered at the Diamniadio Olympic Stadium in Dakar for the opening ceremony.\n<\/p>\n

Hundreds of drummers and dancers celebrated Senegalese and African culture in a spectacular display guided by the Games\u2019 motto: \u201cAfrica welcomes, Dakar celebrates.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Read Also: Nigeria selects 21 athletes for 2026 Youth Olympic Games<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Performers dressed in yellow, black and white traditional Senegalese gowns formed a map of Africa as they danced in unison. The ceremony also featured West African oral storytelling, a concert by Senegalese singer Obree Daman and the traditional parade of athletes.<\/p>\n

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially declared the Games open.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic event, and it was so important for me to be here,\u201d said Aby Diouf, a 25-year-old Senegalese spectator at the stadium. \u201cIt\u2019s a marvellous celebration, and we are all here to bring the energy and get people hyped.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

About 2,700 athletes aged between 14 and 17 are expected to compete for medals.\n<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s delegation of 13 athletes is competing under its national flag at an Olympic event for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to its suspension.\n<\/p>\n

The Games will also feature the first refugee team at a Youth Olympic event, with six athletes based in Kenya and Uganda competing in athletics, judo and taekwondo.<\/p>\n

Athletes will contest 153 medal events across 25 sports.\n<\/p>\n

Singapore hosted the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010. Dakar was initially scheduled to host the event in 2022, but the coronavirus pandemic forced its postponement.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic moment for Senegal, for Africa and for our entire Olympic family,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry at the opening ceremony.
Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimming gold medallist, became the first woman and the first African to lead the IOC last year.\n<\/p>\n

The Games come as African countries increasingly view sport as a tool for diplomacy and economic development.<\/p>\n

South Africa hosted the continent\u2019s first FIFA World Cup in 2010, while Morocco will co-host the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal.\n<\/p>\n

Rwanda hosted Africa\u2019s first UCI Road World Championships last year, while Formula One is expected to return to the continent with a Grand Prix in Rwanda early next decade. Botswana also hosted the World Athletics Relays in May.<\/p>\n

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Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnthony Nlebem<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Head of Sports at BusinessDay Media, a seasoned Digital Content Producer, and FIFA\/CAF Accredited Journalist with over a decade of sports reporting.Has a deep understanding of the Nigerian and global sports landscape and skills in delivering comprehensive and insightful sports content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games officially kicked off in Senegal on Saturday, marking the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil as the continent seeks a bigger role… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}