Senegal opens the Youth Olympic Games on Saturday, the first time the event has been held in Africa, as the continent seeks a larger role in international sport.

A First for Africa

The games were originally due to be hosted by Dakar in 2022, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed them by four years. Organisers describe the event as a celebration of Senegalese and African culture, with hundreds of dancers in the opening spectacle. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is due to declare the games open at Diamniadio stadium, with IOC President Kirsty Coventry and several heads of state expected to attend. Coventry, a Zimbabwean swimming champion, became the IOC’s first African and first female president last year.

New Sports and Debuts

Several sports make their Youth Olympic debut, including Baseball5, a five-a-side version of baseball played without bats and gloves, Wushu, a Chinese martial art, and coastal rowing beach sprint. Beach wrestling also appears for the first time, reflecting Senegal’s own sand-based wrestling tradition. A refugee team of six athletes, based in Kenya and Uganda, is the first refugee team at a Youth Olympics.

Russia’s Return Under Its Flag

A Russian delegation of 13 athletes will compete under its national flag at an Olympic event for the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to its suspension. Russian athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and this year’s Winter Olympics. The move follows the IOC’s shift under Coventry, which has said athletes should not be held responsible for their governments’ actions. Some observers see it as a trial run for a possible full return at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Hopes and Concerns

Sports analyst Frédéric Sohound said African countries increasingly use sport as a diplomatic tool and a means of development, and pointed to Morocco’s investment in facilities. He warned that Senegal will need reliable maintenance funding and regular events after the games to keep its venues in use. The games come as Senegal faces a debt crisis, and many residents are focused on rising living costs. A government-led foundation’s plan to buy 200,000 tickets for schoolchildren drew criticism over where the money came from. President Faye has defended the spending, citing renovated facilities, youth training and contracts for Senegalese businesses.