IOC President Kirsty Coventry visits Climbing at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
A wall that stays: the Dakar climbing wall will remain in Senegal as a legacy for the local community
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry visited the Climbing area of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Sunday, where climbing is featured as one of the ten sports of the Games’ Engagement Programme.
Welcomed by World Climbing President Marco Scolaris and athlete role model Emmanuel Onyango from Uganda, President Coventry, accompanied by IOC Sport Director Pierre Ducrey, toured the climbing area with the initiation wall, met young participants, coaches and volunteers, and saw first-hand how the sport is introducing hundreds of children and teenagers to climbing for the first time, and even President Coventry climbed the wall herself.
“I was climbing on the wall in a break between the visit of girls and boys from Senegal," said World Climbing President Marco Scolaris. "The IOC President approached me and said, ‘I want to climb’. I suggested a traverse, but she was resolute: ‘I want to climb higher’. And she did it!”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry commented: “It has been wonderful to experience the Dakar 2026 engagement sports and to see first-hand the energy, enthusiasm and curiosity of the young people from Senegal taking part.
"These activities give them the opportunity to discover new sports, try something different, challenge themselves and experience the joy of being active together. They also show how sport can bring people together, create connections and inspire in ways that extend far beyond the field of play. Congratulations to all the International Federations for their commitment and for helping to bring these memorable experiences to life.”
Dakar 2026, the first Olympic event ever held on African soil, runs from 31 October to 13 November. Alongside 25 competition sports, the Games include an Engagement Programme of ten non-medal sports – canoe-kayak, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, climbing, surfing, tennis and weightlifting – designed to encourage participation among young people in Senegal and across the continent.
Climbing is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and Africa represents one of its greatest opportunities for development. With the youngest population of any continent, rapidly growing cities and a wealth of natural areas for climbing, Africa offers enormous potential for the sport.
The Engagement Programme in Dakar is designed to turn that potential into participation: by giving young people direct, hands-on access to the sport, it aims to inspire a new generation of climbers, coaches, routesetters and officials. World Climbing will continue to work with African National Federations and World Climbing Africa to build on this momentum through development programmes.
The climbing wall built for Dakar 2026 is not a permanent venue. It will be dismantled, relocated and rebuilt to remain permanently at the legacy venue in Dakar, giving the future National Federation (whose establishment is now in process), the local community (schools, clubs and young people), local climbing club and their volunteers who are an integral part of the engagement program, a lasting place to practise the sport long after the Olympic flame has gone out. The legacy will include climbing holds, climbing shoes, boulder mats, brushes, and chalk.
This wall reflects the spirit of Dakar 2026: Games built for the entire African continent, leaving behind not only memories but infrastructure and opportunities for the next generation.
Photo IOC/Greg Martin
