Senegal gears up to host Youth Games, Africa’s first-ever Olympics

Workers assemble the rings as Senegal prepares to host the Youth Games, the first Olympic event to be held in Africa. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Signs across the Senegalese capital proclaim “ Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” ahead of the Youth Olympic Games, which will mark the continent’s first time to hold an Olympic event when they kick off on Saturday.

Over the course of two weeks some 2,700 athletes aged 17 or younger are expected to compete across 25 sports, including Russians who are returning to the Games following a ban.

Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling and rugby sevens to breaking will be held across eight venues in three locations.

Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, 80 kilometres from the capital, will all host events.

In total, 136 Senegalese athletes will participate.

The fourth edition of the YOG opens with Senegal mired in debt amid a severe economic crisis.

While a sense of excitement is beginning to stir in the capital, the Youth Olympics have struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal, where many are more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.

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Senegalese authorities, who have overseen extensive infrastructure projects, view their efforts as an investment in the future as well as an occasion for training and long-term skill development.

They also hope the event will highlight Dakar as a major African destination.

Upon welcoming the Youth Olympic flame to Dakar on September 12, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye told the country that “all of Africa’s youth is watching (you) with confidence and pride”.

He said he wanted those who attended “to take away from the experience that Africa’s youth is brimming with energy, that they are standing tall and determined, and that they are proud”.

The flame then travelled 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles), touring all 14 regions of Senegal.

Return of Russian athletes

The Games will mark the return of Russians to Olympic competition under their own colours following a ban.

In July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) effectively lifted the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) suspension.

According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will participate, and 10 coaches will accompany them to Senegal.

During a meeting in Moscow a week ago, Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev, who also heads the ROC, told the young athletes that “after your victories -- and I’m sure there will be some -- the Russian anthem will be played and the Russian flag will be raised."

Cyclist Angelina Novolodskaya shared her excitement with AFP.

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“When I was told that there would be Youth Olympic Games and that I could go, it was just ‘Wow’. It’s so cool and extraordinary," she said.

However, it is up to each sport’s international federation whether to authorise the Russian athletes’ participation.

The international athletics governing body, World Athletics, is maintaining a ban, while the judo and swimming federations have allowed the Russians’ return with their flag and national anthem.

The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, composed primarily of athletes based in Africa.

Milestone

The IOC has called the Dakar YOG an important milestone for the continent and an opportunity to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role within the Olympics.

That said, Senegal has recently doubled its maximum penalty for same-sex relations, amid a wave of homophobia in the conservative, predominantly Muslim nation.

As the Games approached, Human Rights Watch called on Senegalese authorities to halt what it said was a “brutal crackdown” on LGBTQ people.

“The Olympic Charter prohibits discrimination on any grounds and commits host countries to respect human rights and human dignity," it said.

South Africa could potentially become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already paved the way by hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics.