The Olympic Committee has finalized details for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, which will take place in Dakar, Saly, and Diamniadio, Senegal. The 2026 event is the rescheduled 2022 Games that were canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Action will unfold from October 31 to November 13, with 25 different sports being contested at the competition. A total of 153 medal events are programmed, including 73 men’s events, 73 women’s events, and 7 mixed events.
The swimming competition will run from November 1-6 at the Egg Tower Complex in Dakar, a facility being rebuilt specifically for the Games. Ground was broken on the site in late 2021 after Senegalese officials opted to reconstruct the existing facility following the discovery of several defects and design flaws in the original structure.
According to Inside the Games, the venue will feature a 10-lane competition pool with seating for 562 spectators, while a six-lane training pool will accommodate 800 spectators. A separate diving pool will have capacity for 688 seats, and the facility will be equipped with an Omega timing system.
Swimming will be the only aquatic event at this edition of the Games, as diving has been excluded from the official schedule after being featured at each of the past editions.
Full Competition Schedule
| Sport | Location | Date |
| Athletics | Iba Mar Diop Complex – Dakar | November 8, 9, 10 |
| Rowing (sea rowing) | Saly West Beach – Saly | October 31 – November 3 |
| Badminton | Dakar Arena – Diamniadio | November 1st – 5th |
| Baseball and softball (Basball5) | Egg Tower Complex – Dakar | October 30 – November 3 |
| (Basketball) 3×3 Basketball | Egg Tower Complex – Dakar | November 6–9 |
| Beach Handball | Saly Beach West – Saly | November 9–13 |
| Volleyball (Beach Volleyball) | Saly Beach West – Saly | October 31 – November 4 |
| Boxing | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | November 7–12 |
| Breaking | Egg Tower Complex – Dakar | November 12 and 13 |
| Cycling (Road cycling) | Corniche Ouest – Dakar | November 8 and 10 |
| Horse riding (show jumping) | Diamniadio Equestrian Complex | November 3, 5 and 6 |
| Fencing | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | November 8-13 |
| Football (Futsal) | Iba Mar Diop Complex – Dakar; Dakar Arena – Diamniadio | November 1st – 5th; November 7–9; November 11 and 12 |
| Gymnastics (Artistic Gymnastics) | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | November 5–11 |
| Judo | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | November 1st to 3rd |
| Wrestling (Beach Wrestling) | Saly Beach West – Saly | November 7 and 8 |
| Swimming | Egg Tower Complex – Dakar | November 1-6 |
| Rugby (Rugby Sevens) | Iba Mar Diop Complex – Dakar | November 1st – 3rd |
| Skateboarding (street skateboarding) | Egg Tower Complex – Dakar | November 4th and 5th |
| Taekwondo | Iba Mar Diop Complex – Dakar | November 8–12 |
| Table tennis | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | October 31 – November 5 |
| Archery | Abdoulaye Wade Stadium – Diamniadio | November 6–10 |
| Triathlon | Saly Beach West – Saly | November 5th and 6th |
| Veil | Saly Beach West – Saly | November 8–12 |
| Wushu (Taolu) | Dakar Expo Center – Diamniadio | November 1st – 3rd |
The swimming competition has undergone significant changes this year, with roster sizes cut to two male and two female swimmers per country (down from four per gender in previous editions), the age limit shifted from 15-18 to 14-17, and the program eliminating all relays along with the 1500 freestyle and 400 IM. The exact event order for the meet has not yet been released.
While most national governing bodies have not laid out how they plan to select their teams for 2026, the top 16 nations at the 2017 World Championships were allowed to bring full rosters to the 2018 meet. The host nation, regardless of their rank at Worlds, also received entries. After that group, there were 112 universality places available for swimmers who hit a certain minimum performance set by World Aquatics and chosen by a Tripartite Commission.
In 2018, USA Swimming selected athletes based on their fastest times and corresponding world rankings from official Youth Olympic Games qualifying competitions, which included the 2017 U.S. Open, 2017 Speedo Junior National Championships, and multiple 2018 Arena Pro Series meets.
Among the biggest names who raced at the 2018 Youth Olympics were Kristof Milak of Hungary, Kliment Kolesnikov and Andrei Minakov of Russia, Thomas Ceccon of Italy, Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel, Barbora Seemanova of Czech Republic, and Kaylee McKeown of Australia. Milak and McKeown each won multiple gold medals across the last two Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris.
While the Youth Olympics has been a subordinated meet for the United States, instead prioritizing World Junior and Junior Pan Pac meets, Rhyan White and Kate Douglass became the first Youth Olympics alum to make the US Olympic Team in swimming in 2021.
USA Swimming has historically sent its ‘next tier’ of junior swimmers to the Youth Olympic Games, meaning that athletes who participate at that year’s Pan Pacific Championships or Junior Pan Pacific Championships were not allowed to swim at the Youth Olympic Games. This approach has resulted in modest medal performances: the USA finished 30th with a single bronze at the 2018 Games, fifth with three golds and one silver in 2014, and 10th with one gold and two silvers at the first edition in 2010.
2026 will be the fifth edition of the Games, with recent hosts of the Summer Youth Olympic Games focused on regions that don’t yet have the infrastructure to host a full Olympic Games, but that demonstrate significant growth opportunities for the Olympic movement.
