JOJ Dakar 2026 flame begins Senegal-wide journey

The arrival of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games flame has opened the final countdown to the first edition of the event hosted in Africa. It reached Dakar on Saturday, 12 September, after its lighting ceremony in Athens and a stop at the presidential palace. One hundred Linguères then carried it for more than a kilometre to the Place du Souvenir Africain.

The ceremony combined Olympic tradition with Senegalese cultural expression. The bearers wore large yellow and red boubous, while Senegalese artists performed during the different stages of the event. The procession also brought the flame out of an institutional setting and closer to the public in the capital. Sports Minister Djirèye Clotilde Coly, who attended the lighting in Athens, praised the seriousness of the Greek ceremony and the work of the COJOJ and the Linguères in Dakar.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry described the Games as an opportunity to present Africa differently and to strengthen confidence among young people on the continent. With 49 days remaining before the opening, Prime Minister Al Aminou Lô highlighted the years of preparation behind the event and called for a historic national mobilisation.

The flame will move through the Dakar region from 14 to 27 September, then visit the other regions from 29 September to 24 October. It will return to the capital from 28 to 30 October. Across 30 stages, it will reach all 14 regions before the cauldron is lit at the opening ceremony on 31 October. The Games end on 13 November.