A friendly-looking lion mascot holding up a large national flag of Senegal on a pole. The mascot, called Ayo, wears a colourful red-and-yellow traditional-style hat and a white T-shirt featuring the logo for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The green, yellow, and red Senegalese flag with a green central star prominently fills the right side of the frame against an outdoor street backdrop with blurred crowd members and a metal crowd barrierImage source, AFP via Getty Images
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Dakar was originally due to host the Youth Olympics in 2022 but it was postponed to this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic

ByEmmanuel AkindubuwaBBC Sport Africa
  • Published4 hours ago

On Saturday, 31 October the Olympic rings will be raised for an event hosted on African soil for the first time as Senegal stages the Youth Olympic Games.

The cities of Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly will host 15 days of competition running until 13 November.

About 2,700 athletes are set to compete across 25 sports, with 153 medal events.