There are the numbers: 2,650 athletes, 204 National Olympic Committees, 153 medal events. And there is what people will remember from the first Youth Olympic Games ever held in Africa: a burst of colour, from Diamniadio to Saly.

On Saturday 31 October, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open before 50,000 spectators at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio. On the field, 1,115 artists and performers, including 628 dancers, celebrated Senegalese culture and African heritage. For the first time, a Refugee Olympic Team is taking part in the Youth Olympic Games.

A host nation that dresses its Games

Senegal chose its palette with care. The mascot Ayo, unveiled a year earlier by President Faye alongside IOC President Kirsty Coventry, comes in vivid colours. The medal ceremony outfits, by Senegalese designer Abdou Lahad Gueye, feature touches of traditional woven cloth. In Senegal, textile is a language of its own.

In a country that dresses its Games so carefully, it is fitting that the host has a colour of his own. As the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal has noted, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s favourite colour is orange.

From Barcelona to Diamniadio

It is a rare personal note from a head of state who seldom talks about himself, and whose own story with the Olympics began as a spectator. In August 1992, aged twelve, he watched the Barcelona Games in his home village of Ndiaganiao. Thirty-four years later, he opened the first Olympic Games ever held on the continent. “Authentic Senegal! What a people! What a culture!” he wrote the day after the ceremony.

After the celebration, the legacy

Competition continues until 13 November in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. Dakar 2026 is the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games to achieve full gender parity, with 73 women’s events, 73 men’s events and seven mixed events. The President wants the momentum to outlast the Games: “In our country, sport has remained a passion. I want it to become an economy,” he told Le Soleil on 21 October.