The first ever Olympic event in Africa

By John Cushing, October 2026

“There’s going to be things that are different from other events” admits double Olympic champion and now chef de mission for Team GB Alistair Brownlee as he leads a team of 15 British athletes at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, but “it’s brilliant, its going to make it a very special occasion.”

Taking place from October 31 to November 13, more than 2,700 athletes from across the world will be in Senegal for the first Olympic sporting event ever to be held on African soil. But team leader Brownlee, who famously won back to back Triathlon Olympic golds in London and Rio and now takes up a new role for the first time, has confidence in the organisers too.

“I think from my point of view, yeah, of course there's nervousness, and I think there should be it's a position of, real responsibility, you know, to try and help these young people make the most of the opportunity. But I think there’s a kind of, let's call it the operational nervousness” he told Great British Bosses podcast from Anything but Footy. “There's going to be things that are different from other events, but as you both know, these Olympic events are always incredibly well organised and tend to do an amazing job, and this will be no different. There will, without a doubt, be challenges along the way. That is always at these events, but on the whole, what actually happens when it needs to happen, and the competition is always fantastic.”

Team GB's youngsters are all aged between 14 and 18 and will compete in 7 sports: archery, badminton, boxing, coastal rowing beach sprint, fencing, gymnastics, and sailing, and they collected their British kit at a recent summit in the heart of London.

“I actually wrote this in my welcome to the information for the athletes. I mean, it is only a small thing, but for whatever reason, it's a moment of such significance, getting your Team GB kit for the first time. Team GB is such a strong brand, but you are still representing your country at the Olympic Games, which, is, you know, one of the highest honours I think you can probably have as an athlete. Receiving the kit for the first time is really representative of all of that, and so is representative of all the work to get there, and the support from family and friends around you to get there” Brownlee who went to three Olympic Games told us.

“I can very much remember getting my first, must have been in May 2008, or June 2008, or something. I had to get the train down to the Excel Centre, and then got so many bags back, and I had to get the train back to Leeds with about 7 different bags, and it was a nightmare. But then I got home and unpacked the bags and showed my family some of the kit, and, it was really special.”

TEAM GB ATHLETES – DAKAR 2026

Gymnastics

•    Helena Finc (15)

•    Jenitha Johnson (14)

•    Jamie Reyner-Corbett (15)

•    Uzair Chowdhury (16)

•    Ben Porter (16)

•    Lucas Scully (16)

Fencing

•    Mohammed Belbouab (16)

Badminton

•    Rajvi Parab (16)

Sailing

•    Ruby Webb (15)

Archery

•    Archie Christopher (17)

•    Jasmine Harris (17)

Boxing

•    Lily Bassett (16)

•    Micheal Maughan (16)

Beach Sprint

•    Louie Walker (16)

•    Lexi Gill (17)

And in a world with so much turmoil and uncertainty, Olympic sport is a way of bringing everyone together says Alistair Brownlee. “I’m really looking forward to supporting them throughout the experience and, most importantly, I hope they embrace every opportunity, enjoy every moment and make memories that will stay with them for years to come.”

“My experience has always been the more time you spend in these environments, the more you realise that more similar we are, and the less different we are. And probably the Olympic movement, it doesn't get talked about enough, but there probably isn't that many other events at all, where there's so many people from literally every country on the planet eating and living in the same place, there just has to be value in that.”

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