The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, or YOG, opened on Oct 31, marking the first time an Olympic event has been held on African soil.
The opening ceremony took place at the 55,000-seat Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, a new city located 30 kilometers from Senegal's capital of Dakar.
Khady Niang, the ceremony director, said the show allows Africa to "tell the world who we are, where we come from and where we want to go".
The two-hour show started at 6:30 pm local time, marked by the arrival of International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry and Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
"For years, we have been talking about this moment — the first Olympic sporting event on African soil and now here we are. This historic moment is for Senegal, for Africa, for our entire Olympic movement, and to all of our young amazing athletes," Coventry said.
"This is the Africa that I am so proud and so excited for the world to experience," she said, voicing hope for young talents to "believe in yourselves, to dream big and to do things you never thought were possible".
