Dakar 2026: Faye orders Olympic torch across Senegal

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games torch will be taken through every region of Senegal after President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye instructed the government to organise a nationwide passage. The decision extends the build-up to the Games beyond Dakar and gives the Olympic flame a presence across the country before competition begins.

Faye will preside over the ceremony for the torch handover on Saturday, 12 September. The Games are scheduled to take place from 31 October to 13 November 2026, leaving the relay and related ceremonies ahead of the event itself.

The flame was lit on Thursday, 10 September, at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. Senegal was represented at the ceremony by a delegation led by Youth and Sports Minister Djirèye Clotilde Coly. The lighting marked the formal start of the flame’s journey towards Dakar.

Faye issued the instruction during a Council of Ministers meeting, asking the government to ensure that the flame reaches all of Senegal’s regions. The handover ceremony will therefore be followed by a wider national relay, linking the preparation for Dakar 2026 to communities across the country rather than limiting the torch’s route to the host city.