The Olympic flame arrived in Senegal as preparations are underway for the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympics that will take place in Africa.
Saturday saw over 100 people attending a celebration in honor of the arrival of the flame at the Place du Souvenir Africain in Dakar.
The Games will take place from October 31 to November 13, gathering about 2,700 athletes between the age of 15 to 18 years. They will be competing in 35 different sports in the cities of Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
The flame was handed over by 100 Senegalese women called “lingeer” which is a Wolof name that refers to queens or royal women.
In their traditional orange and gold costumes, the women carried the flame in a parade symbolizing Senegalese women as well as the transfer of values from generation to generation.
Gacirah Diagne, one of the lingeer, expressed that the Games will inspire the youth in Africa, which has the youngest population in the world.
Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue lit the Olympic flame in the ceremony. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry was among those who attended the ceremony.
The flame departed from Athens last Thursday after being
