With 365 days to go until the opening of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, a giant countdown clock has been unveiled in the heart of the Senegalese capital. The initiative aims to build public enthusiasm as the Olympic milestone approaches.
Tick-tock. Time is running. On Friday 31 October, exactly one year before the opening of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the official countdown clock was revealed.
Installed on the forecourt of Dakar’s TER railway station, in the very centre of the city, the clock is designed to heighten anticipation ahead of the first Olympic sporting event ever to be held on African soil.
Dakar to host “historic events” next year
The unveiling ceremony brought together a number of prominent figures, notably from the Olympic Movement. Among them was Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “Dakar 2026 was born out of a strong ambition: to enhance the global reach of the Youth Olympic Games while placing them at the heart of Africa’s renewal and transformation,” she stated on the occasion.
Also present was Raynald Aeschlimann, President and Chief Executive Officer of OMEGA, Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner and the initiator of the countdown mechanism. According to him, “Dakar 2026 promises to be a major milestone in the global development of sport, and as Official Timekeeper, we are delighted to contribute through our expertise. (…) I am convinced that the historic events scheduled to take place in Senegal next year will, in turn, reveal a new generation of rising young talents.”
“A renewed momentum for the year ahead”
For Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, President of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (COJOJ), “with the Youth Olympic Games being hosted on African soil, the entire programme will be infused with a rich, vibrant and deeply inspiring culture.”
« L’édition de Dakar 2026 suscite déjà énormément d’enthousiasme, et le compte à rebours lancé aujourd’hui donne à chacun un nouvel élan pour l’année à venir”, assure de son côté Ibrahima Wade, Coordonnateur général du Comité d’Organisation des Jeux Olympiques de la Jeunesse Dakar 2026 (COJOJ) qui a également participé à la cérémonie.
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will take place from 31 October to 13 November 2026 and will bring together nearly 2,700 athletes aged 17 or under. They will compete across 153 events hosted in three cities: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
