2026 Summer Youth Olympics

The 2026 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the IV Summer Youth Olympic Games and commonly known as Dakar 2026 (), will be the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympics, an international sports, education and cultural festival for teenagers, in a city designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Originally scheduled to be held for 18 days in Dakar, Senegal, from 22 October to 9 November 2022, it is now scheduled to be held there for 14 days—from 31 October to 13 November 2026, becoming the first IOC event to be held in Africa and the first Youth Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry.

On 9 December 2014 at the 127th IOC Session it was decided to move the organisation of the YOG to a non-Olympic year, starting with the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games, to be postponed from 2022 to 2023. Subsequently, the IOC reverted to a 2022 date, and announced in February 2018 that they would be recommending that the event be held in Africa. The 132nd IOC Session confirmed the change of date back to 2022 on 7 February 2018. The host was announced at the 133rd IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the 2018 edition.

Bidding process

Originally scheduled for 2022, the International Olympic Committee decided at its 127th session in Monaco to postpone the organization of the future YOG to a non-Olympic year, namely 2023. However, in June 2020 the IOC Executive Board ultimately decided to move the YOG back to 2026.

The IOC voted to select the host city of the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics on 8 October 2018 at the 133rd IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

+ 2022 Youth Olympic Games bidding results City Nation VotesDakarUnanimous

Development and preparations Organisation On 15 July 2020, the IOC and Senegalese government agreed to postpone the games to 2026 due to the operational and economic consequences of the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the 141st IOC Session, the committee provided an update, including a detailed schedule for the required upgrades, which are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024. Infrastructure preparations for the Games remain on track, with refurbishment work launched at key urban venues in Dakar and construction progressing at the equestrian centre and the Youth Olympic Village in Diamniadio. The completed venue master plan includes seven venues across the three host zones that will accommodate competition sites.

Venues and infrastructure Senegal proposes to organize the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in three distinct areas, Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.

Dakar All engagement sports will be played in yet to be determined venues in the Corniche West.

VenueEventsCapacityComplexe Iba Mar DiopAthletics8,000Boxing7,000Futsal (preliminaries)Rugby sevensComplexe Tour De L'Œuf3x3 basketball8,000Baseball5BreakingSkateboardingSwimmingCorniche WestRoad cyclingN/A

Diamniadio VenueEventsCapacityEquestrian CentreEquestrian4,000Dakar ArenaBadminton15,000Futsal (finals)Diamniadio Olympic StadiumOpening ceremony50,000ArcheryDakar Expo CentreArtistic gymnastics10,000WushuFencingTable tennisJudoTaekwondo

Saly VenueEventsCapacitySaly BeachBeach handball3,000Beach volleyballBeach wrestlingRowingSailingTriathlon

The Games Sports The 2026 Summer Youth Olympics will feature 153 events in 25 sports. Breaking, skateboarding will join the 21 core sports. There will be no mixed team events (NOCs) for the first time, 7 open event (equestrian), 73 men's events, and 73 women's events. Baseball5 and wushu were subsequently added as optional sports.

In June 2024, the IOC Executive Board approved a new sports program proposed by the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission to better fit it into the local context. An amendment to the program kept 25 of the original 35 sports in the competition program and moved 10 sports to the engagement program. The change also limits each sport to one discipline only, reducing the overall number of athletes while ensuring gender parity. The events and athlete quotas were confirmed on 3 December 2024.

Qualification For the first time, all participation registrations are being managed directly by the IOC, in close cooperation with the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the respective sports federations. The IOC published a document outlining this process on 17 March 2025. These participation principles are based on six pillars:

Universality – All NOCs and the Refugee Olympic Team are ensured to have the opportunity to participate in the Games with at least one male and one female athlete. Continental Representation – There may be no more than one quota place per NOC and sport. Strong African Representation – The participation of all 54 African NOCs is prioritized by the IOC; wherever possible, African countries are to participate in the Games with at least two male and two female athletes. Host Representation – The host nation, Senegal, is set to be represented in all sports and disciplines, wherever possible. Athlete Performance – There are no direct international qualification tournaments for the Youth Games. Gender Parity – The IOC will ensure that an equal number of quota places are allocated to men and women.

The definition of the actual qualification criteria remains the responsibility of the respective sports federations; this may include participation in, and results from, national, continental, and/or international events.

Competition program

Engagement program Sports in the engagement program were selected to build interest and participation in the host city. There are no listed medal competitions.

Participating National Olympic Committees Participating National Olympic Committees (host)

Calendar The schedule was released on 2 February 2026. All times and dates use Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) <div align=center> OCOpening ceremony●Event competitions●Gold medal eventsCCClosing ceremony </div align=center>

October/November 2026OctoberNovemberEvents30thFri31stSat1stSun2ndMon3rdTue4thWed5thThu6thFri7thSat8thSun9thMon10thTue11thWed12thThu13thFri|align="left" colspan=2| Ceremonies | |style="background-color:#00cc33;"|OC

|style="background-color:#ee3333|CC ||align="left" colspan=2| 3x3 basketball

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00|2

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Archery

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|3|align="left" colspan=2| Artistic gymnastics

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|5|align="left" colspan=2| Athletics

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|10 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|12 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|14

|36|align="left" colspan=2| Badminton

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Baseball5 |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|1|align="left" colspan=2| Beach handball

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |2|align="left" colspan=2| Beach volleyball | |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Beach wrestling

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4

|8|align="left" colspan=2| Boxing

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |2|align="left" colspan=2| Coastal rowing | |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|3|align="left" colspan=2| Equestrian

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● | |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|1|align="left" colspan=2| Fencing

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |6|align="left" colspan=2| Futsal

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● | |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● | |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 | |2|align="left" colspan=2| Judo

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|3 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|3 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|8|align="left" colspan=2| Road cycling

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 | |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|4|align="left" colspan=2| Rugby sevens

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Sailing

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Swimming

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|6 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|6 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|6 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4

|30|align="left" colspan=2| Table tennis | |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2

|3|align="left" colspan=2| Taekwondo

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|2 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|3 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|3 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 | |11|align="left" colspan=2| Triathlon

|style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1 |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|1

|2|align="left" colspan=2| Wushu

|style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#3399ff"|● |style="background-color:#ffcc00"|4

|4Daily medal events ! 0 ! 0 ! 9 ! 9 ! 17 ! 9 ! 10 ! 6 ! 4 ! 20 ! 20 ! 23 ! 6 ! 15 ! 5153Cumulative total ! 0 ! 0 ! 9 ! 18 ! 35 ! 44 ! 54 ! 60 ! 64 ! 84 ! 104 ! 127 ! 133 ! 148 ! 153October/November 2026OctoberNovemberEvents30thFri31stSat1stSun2ndMon3rdTue4thWed5thThu6thFri7thSat8thSun9thMon10thTue11thWed12thThu13thFri

Marketing The organising committee has announced ambassadors for the Games, who include Omar Sy and Khaby Lame.

Mascot

Ayo, the official mascot, was unveiled on 31 October 2025 at Grand Théâtre National de Dakar. His name means "joy" in Yoruba.

Broadcasting rights Brazil – Grupo Globo Chile – Chilevisión China - CMG South Korea – JTBC Thailand – Plan B Europe – Eurosport and European Broadcasting Union

Notes

References

External links

2026 Summer Youth Olympics

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