With less than 1,000 days until the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics, 1,400 athletes, aged 15 to 18, are preparing for the first Olympic event to be held in Africa. Chinese-funded stadiums are under construction, but progress is slow, and Senegal lacks an Olympic-size swimming pool, forcing young athletes to train in the ocean. The country faces mounting debt to China, and efforts to raise taxes are challenged by a large informal economy. African leaders aim to renegotiate Chinese loans, but China's slowing growth has shifted priorities away from building new sports facilities.
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Senegal’s capital Dakar
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