Africa Welcomes, Dakar Celebrates (Youth Olympics 2026)
Hi Y'all! For the first time ever, Africa is getting ready to host the Youth Olympic Games. And by Africa, I mean Dakar — the capital city of Senegal, my country. The slogan: Africa Welcomes, Dakar Celebrates in the local language From 31 October to 13 November 2026, Dakar will welcome around 2,700 teenage athletes representing 207 delegations, including the first-ever Youth Refugee Olympic Team. They will compete across 25 sports, including table tennis, judo, swimming and baseball, alongside 10 engagement sports such as surfing and breaking. Dakar won the bid to host the Games in 2018, beating other candidates including Tunisia and Nigeria. We were actually supposed to host them in 2022, but the Games were postponed because of COVID-19. Four years later, it is finally happening. To be honest, I was not particularly familiar with the Youth Olympic Games before Dakar was announced as the host city. I am not even sure I have ever watched a Youth Olympic competition. The Olympic Game...
