Olympic flame arrives in Senegal for the first Olympic event to be held in Africa

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Olympic flame was welcomed by music and dancing in Senegal 's capital on Saturday, as a march by 100 women marked the countdown to the first Olympic sporting event held in Africa .

Hundreds of people gathered at Dakar’s Place du Souvenir Africain, a waterfront plaza overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by portraits of prominent figures from Africa and its diaspora, to greet the flame ahead of the Youth Olympic Games next month.

The women carrying the flame are known as “lingeer” — a title for queens or royal women in Wolof, one of the main languages of Senegal.

Dressed in flowing orange and golden traditional dresses with yellow headwraps, they carried the flame to the plaza in a procession celebrating Senegalese women and the passing of values between generations.

Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue lit the Olympic cauldron at the ceremony.

Kirsty Coventry, who is from Zimbabwe and the head of the International Olympic Committee, said the event will be a “proud moment” for Senegal and the continent.

“Everyone that comes to Senegal in a few weeks is going to leave it knowing that Africa and Senegal are capable and unstoppable, and our young generation are going to change the world,” Coventry told the gathered crowds.

The flame left the Greek capital, Athens, on Thursday, where it was lit using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, following Olympic tradition, before being handed to Senegal at the Panathenaic Stadium.

The flame will begin a 3,600-kilometer (2,237-mile) tour of Senegal on Monday, traveling through all 14 regions with over 400 Senegalese torchbearers before returning to the capital for the official opening ceremony.

The Youth Olympic Games, which will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, bring together about 2,700 young athletes to compete in 35 sports across Dakar and the nearby cities Diamniadio and Saly.

The Youth Olympics, first held in Singapore in 2010, are a smaller version of the Olympic Games for athletes aged 15 to 18.