Dakar 2026: Key dates, venues, and what's next for the Youth Olympic Games edition in Africa

Today (October 31) is a significant milestone for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, as it is precisely one year until Africa hosts the first Olympic sporting event ever to be held on the continent.

2700 athletes are expected to participate in the Youth Olympics, competing in 153 events across 25 competition sports. Additionally, there will be 10 engagement sports on the programme at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

To mark one year to go, the Organising Committee (YOGOC) for Dakar 2026 is hosting a week of events in the Senegalese capital to mark one year until the Games.

Here are the key moments as we mark this symbolic countdown to the Games, which will be held from 31 October to 13 November 2026.

How Dakar en Jeux is bringing culture to life for Dakar 2026

Dakar en Jeux festival 2025 - Focus on sports education

A flagship event for the organisers has been the youth engagement and mobilisation plan (2022-2026), under the banner Dakar en Jeux. The vibrant annual event combines sport, culture, and education, creating a platform that has provided a unique opportunity to share Olympic values.

The final and latest edition will be held from 6-9 November 2025. This year, Dakar 2026 YOGOC is focusing on sports education, allowing children to try out disciplines including basketball, baseball, futsal, judo, boxing, fencing, badminton, table tennis, archery, and athletics. The week will conclude with anti-doping awareness sessions.

Another key highlight of this commitment has been on music and culture, where major open-air festivals take place in the host cities Dakar, Saly, and Diamniadio.

Additionally, there will be a programme focussed on physical activities and well-being for teens aged 14-18 at Place du Souvenir Africain, as well as a Young Geniuses and Spelling bee contest at Dakar Arena.

Unveiling of the Official Mascot

The official mascot of Dakar 2026, Ayo, was unveiled on 31 October 2025 to mark one year to go until the Games

The YOGOC and Senegal's Ministry of National Education had run a design process to select the final mascot, which saw nearly 500 schoolchildren from across Senegal take part in a nationwide competition.

Historic firsts: Total gender parity and an African refugee team

Dakar 2026 will maintain the core athlete total gender parity, as was at Paris 2024, with equal numbers of quota places for women and men across the 35 disciplines (25 competitive and 10 non-competitive), divided into 153 events, including 73 women’s events, 73 men’s events, and 7 mixed events.

Another first at the Games will be the participation of a Youth Refugee Olympic Team. The focus will be on putting together the first Youth Refugee Olympic Team will be on selecting African-based athletes.

One year to go countdown campaign

The official launching ceremony of the countdown clock for Dakar 2026 was also be held on Friday, 31 October, at Dakar Train Station. OMEGA, the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games unveiled the clock for the event with 365 days to go.

Games Slogan: ‘Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates’

The emphasis on the Games Slogan or motto commemorates African hospitality and the festive spirit of Dakar.

The motto, "Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates", underscores the uniqueness of this YOG edition: Senegal is the first African country to host an Olympic sporting event. The YOGOC emphasised that the YOG will be an event for the entire African continent.

Refugee Olympic Team to compete at the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026

Sports on the Dakar 2026 program

The first Games on the African continent will also be the first to take advantage of IOC’s evolving approach to the Youth Olympic Games sports programme, aimed to better fit the local context.

The 25 competition sports selected for Dakar 2026 are athletics (track and field), aquatics (swimming), archery, badminton, baseball (baseball5), basketball (3x3), boxing, breaking, cycling (road cycling), equestrian (jumping), fencing, football (futsal), gymnastics (artistic gymnastics), handball (beach handball), judo, rowing (coastal rowing), rugby (rugby sevens), sailing, skateboarding (street), table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball (beach volleyball), wrestling (beach wrestling), and wushu.

And the 10 engagement sports for Dakar 2026 are canoe-kayak, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis, and weightlifting.

Three Game Venues

The Games will be held across three venues: Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly, with the aim of transforming the host nation through sport and becoming a blueprint for future YOG hosts.

The capital will be home to three of the competition venues: the Tour de l'Oeuf, where the 3x3 basketball, baseball5, breaking, skateboarding, and swimming events will take place; the Stade Iba Mar Diop (athletics, boxing, futsal, rugby sevens); and Corniche West, the location for all 10 engagement sports and the start and finish of the road cycling events.

The city of Diamniadio, around 30 kilometres east of Dakar, boasts four venues: the Equestrian Centre (jumping), Dakar Arena (badminton and futsal), Abdoulaye Wade Stadium (archery), and Dakar Expo Centre (artistic gymnastics, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo and wushu). Diamniadio will also host the Youth Olympic Village.

Saly, around 80 kilometres south of the Senegalese capital, will host events at one sole venue: Saly Beach West, home to the beach handball, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, coastal rowing, sailing, and triathlon events.

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