Dakar

Senegalese local figures are publicly supporting the Dakar 2026 Olympic Flame tour as the Youth Olympic Games approach. The Flame relay is part of the build-up to the Games, which will be the first Olympic event held on African soil, and community leaders are being enlisted to build enthusiasm and local engagement across the host country ahead of 2026.

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge has been appointed a Global Ambassador for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, saying he is ready to "give back to the next generation". The Kenyan great will help promote the Games, the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil, as organisers build excitement among young athletes worldwide ahead of the 2026 event in Senegal.

The Dakar 2026 Flame toured Keur Massar, a commune in the Dakar region of Senegal, as part of the build-up to the Youth Olympic Games. Organisers framed the relay stop as carrying a message of shared human values, using the flame's journey to connect local communities with the first Olympic event to be hosted on African soil.