Bassirou Diomaye Faye to receive Dakar 2026 Olympic flame

Senegal will enter a symbolic new phase in its preparations for Dakar 2026 on Saturday, when President Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially receives the Olympic flame. The ceremony marks the start of the build-up to the Olympic Youth Games, which will become the first event of Olympic scope to be hosted on the African continent.

The ceremony is set for 10am on September 12, 2026, outside the gates of the Presidential Palace on Avenue Léopold Sédar Senghor. The flame will come from Athens before its formal reception by the Senegalese president. Its arrival gives Dakar 2026 a visible link with the Olympic tradition and marks an important stage in the organisation of the Games.

Dakar 2026 carries significance beyond Senegal’s hosting responsibilities. The event will place the country at the centre of a historic moment for African sport, with the continent preparing to host its first Olympic event. President Faye’s participation provides the official national ceremony for that milestone and underlines the progress from planning towards the Games themselves.

The Olympic Youth Games are scheduled to take place in Dakar in 2026. The reception of the flame will now stand as one of the defining early moments of the project, linking the preparations in Senegal to the Olympic movement’s traditional ceremony in Athens.