Thirteen days out, the first Olympic event ever held in Africa is nearly ready. The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games run October 31 to November 13 in Senegal, with competition spread across Dakar, the new city of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly, according to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

Dakar 2026 by the Numbers

About 2,700 athletes will compete in 151 medal events: 72 for women, 72 for men and seven mixed. It's the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games and the first since Buenos Aires 2018, after the event was pushed back from its original 2022 date.

The program skews young and modern. Breaking, skateboarding, 3x3 basketball, beach handball, coastal rowing and Baseball5 sit next to athletics, judo and wrestling.

Team USA Roster: 29 Athletes, 12 Sports

The USOPC named 29 athletes, ages 13 to 18, across archery, badminton, breaking, coastal rowing, equestrian, rugby sevens, skateboarding, taekwondo, triathlon, beach volleyball, beach wrestling and wushu. The biggest group by far is the 12-player rugby sevens squad. Follow the sport on BallerTube's rugby page.

Florida has a flag in the field. Orlando triathlete Avalyn Thompson is the only American in the event after a second-place finish at the North American Junior Championships in La Paz, Mexico, in March, per USA Triathlon. The sprint-distance races are set for November 5 and 6 on the Saly beach course.

One notable absence: USA Swimming isn't sending a team, citing how it allocates junior team resources, as SwimSwam reported.

Why the Youth Olympics Matter for Young Athletes

The Youth Games are a real pipeline. Of the 577 Americans who have competed at a YOG, summer or winter, 89 later made an Olympic team, per the USOPC. At Buenos Aires 2018, Team USA won 18 medals, six of them gold.

Chef de Mission Daniel Smith, the USOPC's director of summer games, leads the U.S. delegation. The opening ceremony is October 31.