Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: Flame handed to President Faye

The Olympic flame for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games has been handed to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, marking a significant stage in preparations for the first Youth Olympic Games to be held in Africa. Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, president of the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee, presented the flame to the head of state during a ceremony in Dakar on Saturday, September 13. IOC President Kirsty Coventry attended the event alongside government officials, sports representatives, civil society figures and young people from several parts of the capital.

The ceremony gave the flame its first major public moment in Senegal ahead of the Games, which are scheduled to begin on October 31. Its arrival was described as historic because the flame is burning on African soil for the first time in connection with an Olympic event hosted on the continent. The occasion placed Senegal at the centre of a wider African sporting moment, with Dakar preparing to welcome young competitors from around the world.

President Faye said the flame had crossed the seas before reaching Senegal. He linked its arrival to the wider history of the Olympic movement, saying that it was the first time in more than 100 years that the Youth Olympic Games flame had reached African soil. For him, the significance went beyond the country’s borders. He addressed young Senegalese people as representatives of a continent watching the event with confidence and pride, naming cities from Johannesburg and Nairobi to Dakar and Djibouti.

That message also carried a responsibility. Faye said the trust placed in Senegal and its youth had to be earned. He described Senegal as a country that keeps its promises and its youth as its greatest wealth. The president urged young people to prepare for the arrival of international visitors by showing the country’s hospitality, energy and teranga, the Senegalese tradition of welcome that he placed at the heart of the country’s presentation during the Games.

The numbers attached to the event underline the scale of the assignment. More than 2,700 athletes are expected to come to Senegal, representing more than 206 countries. Their presence will make the Dakar Games a meeting point for young athletes from across the world, while the ceremony demonstrated that the event is being framed not only as a sporting competition but also as a national and continental responsibility.

The flame will now travel through all 14 regions of Senegal. The route is intended to take the symbol beyond Dakar and give young people across the country an opportunity to participate in the build-up to the Games. Faye called on communities to receive it with open arms, energy, hope and pride. He said he wanted the flame to find, in every region, young people standing with confidence, ready to take charge of their future and face the challenge represented by the event.

That national journey gives the torch relay a role beyond ceremony. It connects the host city with the rest of Senegal before the competition begins and turns the preparation period into a countrywide celebration. The presence of young people from Dakar at the handover, followed by the planned passage through the other regions, places youth participation at the centre of the flame’s movement across the country.

Faye also presented Dakar 2026 as an opportunity to demonstrate Africa’s ability to host major international events. He said the flame showed that Africa was no longer merely watching but was receiving the world. That message gives the Games a broader meaning for the continent, while keeping Senegal’s performance as host at the centre of attention when athletes, delegations and visitors arrive later in October.

The president said the lasting value of the Games should not be judged only by the competitions. He pointed instead to the skills young people acquire and the promotion of Olympic values as part of the event’s legacy. His remarks placed the emphasis on what Senegalese youth will take from the Games after the sporting programme has ended, as well as on the image and experience created during the event itself.

The handover therefore begins the public countdown to October 31 with a flame that will first cross Senegal before the athletes arrive. It gives the 14 regions a direct role in the build-up and gives the country’s young people a visible place in the hosting effort. When Dakar 2026 opens, Senegal will be staging the first African edition of the Youth Olympic Games, with the flame’s journey serving as the opening chapter of that responsibility.