The Youth Olympic flame will arrive in Africa for the first time on 12 September, opening a nationwide tour of Senegal ahead of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
The flame will be lit at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on 10 September using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, before travelling to Dakar. Its arrival will begin a 30-stop tour across Senegal’s 14 regions, leading to the Games’ opening ceremony on 31 October.
Dakar 2026, which runs from 31 October to 13 November, will be the first Olympic sporting event held on African soil.
The welcome ceremony in Dakar will include the ‘March of the Lingueres’, a procession of 100 Senegalese women, and the lighting of a cauldron at Place du Souvenir. Cultural performances and public celebrations are also planned.
Under the theme ‘Pass the Energy’, the tour will remain in Dakar from 14 to 27 September, travel through the regions from 29 September to 26 October and return to the capital from 28 to 30 October.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the flame could bring people together and inspire young people through sport.
To mark its arrival, Olymafrica centres and more than 40 African National Olympic Committees are expected to join an educational and sports relay. Participants will combine running or walking with workshops on Olympic values, collectively aiming to cover a symbolic 30,500km — approximately the perimeter of Africa.
The Athens lighting ceremony will be streamed on Olympics.com and the Olympics YouTube channel. Highlights of the Dakar arrival ceremony will also be available on both platforms.
