Youth Olympic Games kick off in Dakar

Well, for more on the games, we can speak to Olympic specialist Jean-Luc Chapelet, a professor at Lausanne University and former member of the IOC. Good morning and thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. Good morning. Could you just start by telling us more about what we can expect from these games over the next two weeks? What are you personally perhaps most looking forward to? Well, I looked at the opening ceremony and I saw some very nice videos of full Olympic regalia, you know, with the president's speech opening the games, the Olympic flag, the Olympic flame. So this is great for Africa and for Senegal in particular. What am I expecting? I'm expecting young people, 14 to 17. This is the age range of the youth games. To participate, of course, and to get the experience, the Olympic experience, which is something very special, all these sports all together, and preparing for maybe Dakar, sorry, for Los Angeles 2028, two years away from Dakar. So this is great, I think, for this youth. Of course there are only about 3,000 youth, this is a small amount, but clearly in the future the youth of Senegal will certainly benefit from these games. Many countries allow children as young as 13 to compete in just the standard Olympics, So I'm wondering, what's the point of having separate youth games? Well, this is a discussion which is being held in Lausanne at the moment. Should the youth games be replaced by continental youth games, which would involve more people? As I said, only about 3,000 athletes are taking part in this Dakar 2026 youth games. This is not a lot compared to the youth population of the world. If it is done on a continental basis, like it is done in several continents already, Like Asia, like you. Europe, with the, for example, the European Youth Festival, that could be another possibility to involve more young people. And are there many athletes who compete for now in both of the games? Are there people we're going to see in Dakar in the next couple of weeks who we could see again in Los Angeles? Hopefully so, yes, because I think that Senegalese team is quite big. It's probably one of the largest of the teams taking part in these games. And certainly some of these athletes, not all of them, but some of them will qualify to the minimum standards set by the International Federation to participate in the traditional Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. And as we've been saying, this is a historic event. Senegal is the first African country to host an Olympic event. Why did it take so long? Well, Africa was not ready, I guess. Often, Africa is represented by South Africa or North Africa sometimes. Now, this is the turn of Black Africa. After the Youth Olympics, first in Asia, in Singapore and Nanjing, China. Then in Buenos Aires in 2018, it is taking place in 2026. Was supposed to take place in 2022, but because of the COVID, the games were postponed to 2026. This comes as Senegal is dealing with a debt crisis and some in the country have questioned whether investing in all of the infrastructure necessary for the games really makes sense when people are just struggling to meet their basic needs. Do you think hosting the games is really going to be a net gain for Senegal? Well, it's always the same question. This is the opportunity cost. Should the money, should the budget be spent on something else than games? What is certain is that all this money spent in Dakar and Senegal will have an economic impact in terms of construction of facilities, in terms of organization of the games. A lot of people are expecting a tourism impact. I'm not sure this tourism impact will come, because even in Paris 2024, the tourism impact was not that big. It was estimated at about 412,000. Tourists, extra tourists in Paris. Of course, Paris is a very touristic city and Dakar is not. But I guess that the tourism impact will not be that expected. But the economic impact in terms of construction and organization is there. Of course, this money could have been spent somewhere else. But the sports facilities which have been constructed, for example, certainly will be put in use for the youth. Another issue that kind of comes up every time a country hosts an international event is the human rights record. In this case of Senegal, rights groups have raised the issue of the country's crackdown on LGBTQ rights. Doesn't that go against the Olympic Charter? Yes, it does. And it's unfortunate that some countries, including Senegal, are criminalizing the homophobia, for example. This is something which is not right and which is difficult to deal with because many countries, as I said, are doing it. These youth games mark the first time that a Russian squad is going to be competing at an Olympic event under their own flag since the invasion of Ukraine. Why has the IOC officially decided to allow them back? The IOC has decided to authorize the Russian and Belarusian teams And recommends to the international federations to do the same for other competitions. for youth competitions. At the Olympics, the traditional Olympics, that is the next ones in 2028 in Los Angeles, it is not yet decided. And it is even said that the Russians and Belarusians athletes could participate as individual athletes. But the question of the flag and the eventual hymn, which would be played if they win a medal, medal is still not decided. It's still under consideration. So we'll see what will happen in two years time, but changes all the time in this war. Lots to keep an eye on then still ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games. We'll be closely watching the games in Dakar, hoping they bring nothing but good things to Senegal. Jean-Luc Chapelet, thank you again so much for speaking with us this morning. That's Jean-Luc Chapelet, a professor at Lausanne University and a former Former member of the IOC.