The Olympic flame has arrived in Senegal ahead of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, marking the first time an Olympic event will be held on African soil. The Games, scheduled for October 31 to November 13, will bring approximately 2,700 athletes aged 15 to 18 together to compete in 35 sports across Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly. At a ceremony in Dakar, 100 Senegalese women carried the flame in a procession celebrating Senegalese women and intergenerational values. Following this, Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue lit the Olympic cauldron, while International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry described the event as a proud moment for Senegal and Africa. The flame, lit in Athens using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, will now travel roughly 3,600 kilometers across all 14 of Senegal’s regions with more than 400 torchbearers before returning to Dakar for the official opening ceremony.