The Youth Olympic flame for Dakar 2026 has been lit at the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece.
This marks the start of its journey to Dakar in Senegal and another major milestone on the road to the first Olympic sporting event ever held on African soil.
The lighting of the Youth Olympic flame is one of the defining moments of any Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
This edition, in particular, is historic, as it links Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, with a new chapter in Olympic history, as the YOG head to Africa for the first time.
Lit using the sun’s rays – in keeping with Olympic tradition – the flame was formally handed over to Senegal before beginning its journey towards Dakar.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, the organisation’s first African and first female leader, said the moment carried profound personal meaning.
“As an African, this moment means so much to me,” Coventry, an Olympic swimming champion from Zimbabwe, said.
“For so many years we have spoken about the day when an Olympic event would finally come to our continent,” she said. “And now we have that great honour.”
The Youth Games from Oct. 31-Nov. 13 will bring together over 2,700 athletes aged 15-18 participating in 25 sports to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and two other cities.
Dakar organising head, Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, offered assurances that the Games would be a success.
“We do not promise the perfect games. We promise real games, warm games,” he said.
Thursday’s ceremony featured hip-hop dancers, cheerleaders, a youth choir and a performance by Senegalese singer Kya Loum. The flame was lit after dancers performed as ancient Greek high priestesses.
Runners then carried the torch and an olive branch through the stadium, built entirely of white marble in the shape of a horseshoe and recently given a deep clean and a new blue-and-white track.
Isidoros Kouvelos, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, said the day was dedicated.
“This ceremony belongs above all to you: To your dreams, your courage, to the early mornings, the long training sessions, the sacrifices, and the hope,” Kouvelos said. “Sport will teach you many lessons. It will teach you patience and respect. And if you listen carefully, it will teach you something greater: That the true measure of an athlete is the character formed along the way.”
Dakar 2026 Ambassador and Senegalese Olympian Oumy Diop, also an Olympic Solidarity scholarship-holder, took part in the ceremony, representing the generation of young Senegalese and African athletes who will be at the heart of the YOG.
