Youth Olympic flame arrives in Senegal ahead of historic 2026 Games

The flame will travel through all 14 regions of Senegal to mark the groundbreaking fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games, building momentum toward the opening ceremony on October 31, 2026.

Edwin Kiplagat, Marabou News Agency

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic flame has arrived in Senegal, beginning a journey that will carry the energy of the Games across the country ahead of the first Olympic sporting event ever held on African soil. saltysenoritaaz.com

After being lit at the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on 10 September, the Youth Olympic flame reached Senegal for a celebration bringing together young people, athletes, cultural figures and communities.

The flame returned to Dakar 16 years after the Senegalese capital welcomed the Youth Olympic flame during its global journey ahead of Singapore 2010, the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

From 14 September to 30 October, the flame will travel through all 14 regions of Senegal to mark this groundbreaking fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games, building toward the opening ceremony on October 31, 2026.

The journey will bring the flame directly to communities across the host country. Several hundred torchbearers from different backgrounds are expected to carry the flame during the Tour under the theme “Pass the Energy”.

“In just a few weeks, young athletes from around the world will arrive here. They will compete, they will make new friends, they will discover the magic of Senegal and they will experience an Olympic event for the very first time, here on our beautiful continent, Africa,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said.

“It is going to show them that sport can open doors in many different ways. It will inspire a new generation and give confidence to our young generation that they can do anything. I am very proud to be part of our continent, I am very proud to be from Zimbabwe, I am very proud to be an African woman and I am very proud of the culture we all live by.”

At the heart of the arrival celebrations was the ‘March of the 100 Linguères’ bringing together 100 Senegalese women representing different generations, professions and walks of life.

Wearing bright orange boubou (traditional flowing robes), the procession of women accompanied the flame, culminating in the lighting of the celebration cauldron at Place du Souvenir.

Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, said it was a moment for the whole continent to feel proud.

“It is the first time it [flame] has arrived on Senegalese soil and on African soil. We were trusted; we were entrusted with hosting. That is why, from Johannesburg to Nairobi from Dakar to Djibouti, it is all of young Africa that is watching you, and watching you with pride. This trust that has been placed in us, we must prove worthy of it.”

The arrival also provides the focal point for “We Run for Africa,” an initiative designed to extend the energy of Dakar 2026 beyond Senegal.

A total of 45 African National Olympic Committees are being invited to mobilise young people around running, with a collective target of 30,500 kilometres, representing the circumference of Africa.

The first stages take place across Dakar and its surrounding communities before the flame begins a national journey through cities including Thiès, Saint-Louis, Matam, Kaolack, Tambacounda, Kédougou, Kolda and Ziguinchor.

The Flame Tour will conclude immediately before the Dakar 2026 Opening Ceremony on 31 October at the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio, where the Youth Olympic cauldron will be lit.

The Youth Olympic Games run from 31 October to 13 November, bringing together around 2,700 young athletes from across the globe.

Marabou News Agency

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Jan-Hendrik Wessels could be a valuable Bomb Squad member, says Nick Mallett, who expects Rassie Erasmus to select a new-look Bok team to face the Wallabies next up.

The versatile Wessels played off the bench in the 22 August Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series opener, with Deon Fourie and Gerhard Steenekamp since deputising for hooker Malcolm Marx and loosehead prop Ox Nché, respectively.

Erasmus has confirmed Wessels is in the mix as a deputy for Marx and according to Mallett, the 25-year-old should be the go-to No 2 for the one-off clash in Perth on Sunday, 27 September, or at least among the match-day replacements.

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“I’m not sure why they’ve stopped investing time in Jan-Hendrik,” the former Bok coach said on the Talking Boks podcast.

“He’s the guy, for me, who is the closest to Marx. He’s a big, strong guy and must be close to 120 kilos. He’s very fast, he throws in well.

“I feel that he’s a guy who, if they really spent time with, he could sort of emulate a bit of what Marx does. He’s very fast and he could learn to be a very good stealer.

“They’ve used [Johan] Grobbelaar a lot and they brought Deon back into the mix. They’ve used André-Hugo Venter, he’s had one or two Tests.

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“But Wessels, for me, if he concentrated on being a hooker, he’d be a very good Bomb Squad guy and assist us to dominate those last 30 minutes.”

Handré Pollard and Franco Mostert are expected to return from injury Down Under, while the likes of Aphelele Fassi, Paul de Villiers and Ntuthuko Mchunu set for game time with first-choice Boks needing a break.

“I would expect there to be quite a number of changes, maybe nine or 10,” Mallett said. “I’m not sure where Grant Williams is. Canan Moodie obviously needs a good run there.

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“The guys have really taken knocks in this Greatest Rivalry series and have got through it, but that Australian trip might be a bridge too far for quite a few of those guys.

“It might be a sort of Argentina-type team, pretty much your back-up guys.

“[De Villiers] did so well and then, because of Siya [Kolisi] coming back and the need to look for a different style of replacement in Cameron Hanekom, he’s also missed out.

“There are a number of players who could do the job for us.”

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

The post Mallett names the next Marx appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Le coach de Hull City, Sergjej Jakirović, n’a pas tari d’éloges au sujet de Bachir Belloumi après la prestation XXL de l’international algérien face à Chelsea. À Stamford Bridge, l’ancien joueur de Farense a encore franchi un nouveau cap et semble désormais avoir convaincu son entraîneur de ses énormes possibilités.

The post Hull City : Ce que Jakirović pense vraiment de Belloumi appeared first on Football Algérien - DZFOOT.COM.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi said they were blown away by the support the Springboks received in the United States for their fourth Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks.

Over 68,000 spectators attended the match between South Africa and New Zealand at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, with many in the crowd donning green and cheering the Springboks as they beat the All Blacks 43-28 to win the series 3-1.

This followed a warm welcome at the airport and regular interactions with fans in the week ahead of the game.

Erasmus was initially reluctant to expect a big attendance at the 70,000-capacity neutral venue. He told the media the Springboks had played in front of empty stadiums during Covid-19, and doing so would not be new.

As it turned out, there was plenty of support from South African travellers and expats, which bodes well ahead of the 2031 World Cup in the US.

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‘So many South Africans’

“There’s a hell of a lot of people here and it’s awesome,” the coach said afterwards.

“It’s nice to have so many South Africans. I don’t know how they afforded it or how they got in here. But it’s awesome to go all over the world and there are so many South Africans.”

Kolisi added: “It was super special. On our way to the game, the amount of green jerseys we saw, the amount of people we saw lining up at Nando’s. It was crazy.

“At the hotel too, when we went to the captain’s run and today around the bus… That’s who we do it for. Those who can afford to come here and those who are home.”

The Bok captain said during a stoppage when the referee’s microphone stopped working, they soaked up the crowd singing and cheering for them.

“We are super grateful for all the people who bought tickets and travelled. Hopefully we made it special for them.”

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Springboks hope rugby takes off in US

Erasmus also said he and his coaches were impressed by the quality of the facilities.

“The professionalism of how the hotel handled us with recovery and the food. They’re apparently used to getting seven buses to a match like this. We had one bus.

“The changeroom had 63 seats. I think we can learn a hell of a lot from getting rugby more professional.”

He said sporting codes and the media should work together to educate Americans about rugby, which can be difficult to grasp with all its laws if you do not grow up with it.

“If one can get that right, we would be in a lovely place.”

Kolisi also hoped the sport would grow in the US before the 2031 World Cup. He said seeing the passion of the South African and New Zealand fans would be a motivating factor.

“Also the manner that we played, and the respect that we have for one another as a team. I think it’s a game that Americans will enjoy.

“They love physical sport. My favourite sport is ice hockey because they have moments…” Kolisi chuckled.

“I really think the more teams get to play here and the more that is invested in their rugby, hopefully the more it will grow.”