As the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 enter the last two days of competition, there is an overwhelming feeling of pride about what Africa has achieved on and off the field of play at the first Olympic sporting event ever hosted on the continent. When the closing ceremony takes place on Friday (13 Nov), 2,700 young athletes from across the globe will have competed in 25 sports and 151 gold medals will have been awarded through an historic two weeks in Senegal. For Humphrey Kayange, Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Dakar 2026 and the man who captained Kenya’s Rugby Sevens team at Olympic Games Rio 2016, hosting an Olympic event in Africa has been a hugely significant moment. On a personal level, these Games have brought together two defining parts of his life: his experience as an African Olympian and his role in helping to deliver the first Olympic sporting event on the continent.