JOJ Dakar 2026 to take Olympic flame across Senegal

The Olympic flame relay for Dakar 2026 will carry the Youth Olympic Games into communities across Senegal, making the event’s arrival a national programme beyond the competition venues. The flame is expected in Dakar on Friday and will be presented publicly the following day at the Place du Souvenir africain.

About 450 people will take part in the relay, including athletes, young talents, civil society representatives and figures from Senegal’s regions. The flame will visit all 14 regions, beginning in Dakar Plateau after its arrival in the capital. The journey will last more than a month and end at the Place de la Nation on October 30, one day before the Games open.

A Senegalese delegation is travelling to Athens for Thursday’s lighting ceremony, where the flame will be ignited using sunlight and a parabolic mirror. It will then be handed to Senegal at the Panathenaic Stadium, the venue of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Among those expected to carry it are actor Omar Sy, influencer Khaby Lam, and sporting figures Amadou Dia Bâ, Amadou Gallo Fall and Isabelle Sambou.

Dakar 2026 will be the first Youth Olympic Games hosted in Africa. The event is scheduled for October 31 to November 13, with 2,700 athletes competing in about 20 sports under the slogan “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates.”