塞内加尔于周六拉开非洲首届青年奥运会的序幕，首次将奥运赛事引入非洲，此时该大陆正寻求在国际体育竞赛中发挥更大作用。
on Saturday, bringing an Olympic event to Africa for the first time as the continent seeks a bigger role in international sporting competitions.
约2700名年龄在14岁至17岁的年轻运动员将于11月13日前在首都达喀尔、附近的迪亚姆尼亚迪奥市以及海滨度假胜地萨利展开竞技。
About 2,700 young athletes aged 14 to 17 will compete through Nov. 13 in the capital, Dakar, the nearby city of Diamniadio and the beach resort of Saly.
数百名舞者将参加一场庆祝塞内加尔及非洲文化的盛会，这符合青奥会“非洲欢迎，达喀尔庆祝”的口号。“这是塞内加尔，乃至整个非洲发现新运动的首次机会，”达喀尔为举办赛事做准备时，塞内加尔学生托马斯·迪耶梅（Thomas Dieme）说。“我们自然都应该高兴地欢迎其他人、其他文化，”他补充道。
Hundreds of dancers will join a spectacle celebrating Senegalese and African culture, in line with the Fames motto “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates.”“This is a first opportunity for Senegal and, by extension, for Africa, to discover new sports," Thomas Dieme, a Senegalese student said as Dakar prepared to host the games. "It is only natural that we should all be happy to welcome other people, other cultures,” he added.
预计将出席周六开幕式的名人包括具有塞内加尔血统、主演Netflix剧集《亚森·罗宾》的法国演员奥马尔·西，以及塞内加尔裔意大利TikTok明星卡比·莱姆，两人均担任本届赛事的形象大使。
Among the celebrities expected at Saturday's opening ceremony is French actor Omar Sy who has Senegalese roots and stars in the Netflix series “Lupin”, as well as Senegalese Italian TikTok star Khaby Lame, both ambassadors for the games.
吉祥物阿约（Ayo）是一头戴着传统富拉尼帽的小狮子。它的名字在约鲁巴语中意为“欢乐”，约鲁巴语是尼日利亚及邻近西非国家使用的一门语言。
The mascot, Ayo, is a young lion wearing a traditional Fulani hat. Its name means “joy” in Yoruba, a language spoken in Nigeria and neighboring West African countries.
奥运狂热席卷塞内加尔，达喀尔主办青年奥运会，总统巴西鲁·迪奥马耶·法耶计划于当地时间下午6点30分（格林尼治标准时间0830）在迪亚姆尼亚迪奥体育场宣布赛事开幕，国际奥林匹克委员会主席柯斯蒂·考文垂和一些国家元首预计将出席。
Olympic fever grips Senegal as Dakar hosts Youth Olympic Games President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is scheduled to declare the games open at 6:30pm local time (0830 GMT) at the Diamniadio stadium where International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry and some heads of state are expected to be present.
青年奥运会是规模小于夏季奥运会的比赛。新加坡在2010年举办了首届夏季青奥会。达喀尔最初定于2022年主办，但冠状病毒疫情将赛事推迟了四年。
The Youth Olympics are a smaller competition than the Summer Olympics. Singapore hosted the first summer edition in 2010. Dakar was initially due to host in 2022, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed the games by four years.
运动员将在25项运动的153个奖牌项目中展开角逐，其中包括田径、游泳和3对3篮球。
Athletes will compete in 153 medal events across 25 sports, including athletics, swimming and 3-x-3 basketball.
多项运动将迎来它们的青奥会首秀。其中包括棒球5人制（Baseball5，一种不使用球棒和手套的五人制棒球）、中国武术（可以是套路表演或搏击运动），以及结合了海滩奔跑和一对一赛艇的海岸赛艇沙滩短跑。
Several sports will make their Youth Olympic debuts. They include Baseball5, a five-on-five version of baseball played without bats and gloves, Wushu, a Chinese martial art, that can be choreography-based or combat sport, and coastal rowing beach sprint, which combines beach runs with a head-to-head rowing race.
沙滩摔跤也将首次亮相青奥会，此举旨在向塞内加尔式摔跤致敬，该国这项国家级运动也是在沙地上进行的。
Beach wrestling will also feature at the Youth Olympics for the first time, a nod to Senegalese wrestling, the country’s national sport also performed on sand.
青奥会首支难民代表团将派出6名常驻肯尼亚和乌干达的运动员，参加田径、柔道和跆拳道项目的比赛。
The first refugee team at a Youth Olympics will field six athletes based in Kenya and Uganda in track and field, judo and taekwondo.
本届赛事在现代奥运会在雅典拉开帷幕130年后到来。津巴布韦游泳冠军考文垂于去年成为国际奥委会首位非洲籍和首位女性主席。
The games arrive 130 years after the modern Olympics began in Athens. Coventry, a Zimbabwean swimming champion, became the IOC’s first African and first female president last year.
“现在是非洲的时刻，是塞内加尔的时刻，”考文垂周二抵达塞内加尔时对媒体表示。
“It is time for Africa, time for Senegal,” Coventry told media upon arriving in Senegal on Tuesday.
南非于2010年主办了该大陆首届国际足联世界杯。摩洛哥将与西班牙和葡萄牙共同主办2030年世界杯。卢旺达去年主办了非洲首届公路自行车世界锦标赛，一级方程式赛车也将从下十年初开始通过在卢旺达举办大奖赛重返非洲。博茨瓦纳还在5月承办了世界田径接力赛。
South Africa hosted the continent’s first soccer FIFA World Cup in 2010. Morocco will co-host the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal. Rwanda hosted Africa’s first road cycling world championships last year and Formula 1 is returning to Africa with a grand prix in Rwanda starting early next decade. Botswana also staged the World Athletics Relays in May.
常驻达喀尔的体育分析师弗雷德里克·索洪代（Frédéric Sohoundé）表示，非洲国家越来越将体育视为“外交的武器和发展的工具”。
African countries increasingly see sport as “a weapon in diplomacy and a tool for development”, Dakar-based sports analyst Frédéric Sohoundé said.
他指出摩洛哥对体育设施的投资以及其吸引连续赛事的能力。不过，他表示，赛后塞内加尔需要可靠的维护资金和经常性赛事，以防止其场馆成为昂贵且未被使用的设施。
He pointed to Morocco’s investment in sports facilities and its ability to attract repeated competitions. Senegal, though, needs reliable maintenance funding and regular events after the games to prevent its venues from becoming expensive, unused facilities, he said.
俄罗斯由13名运动员组成的代表团自2022年对乌克兰的全面入侵导致其被禁赛以来，首次在奥运赛事中以国旗身份参赛。2024年巴黎奥运会和今年的冬季奥运会上，俄罗斯人作为没有国家象征的中立运动员参赛。
Russia’s delegation of 13 athletes is competing under its national flag for the first time at an Olympic event since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to its suspension. Russians at the Paris Olympics of 2024 and this year’s Winter Olympics competed as neutral athletes without national symbols.
在此之前，国际奥委会在考文垂的领导下转变了方针，考文垂曾表示奥运会不应当“让运动员为他们政府的行为承担责任”。
That follows a shift in the IOC’s approach under Coventry, who has said the Olympics shouldn’t “hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments”.
这可能是俄罗斯在2028年洛杉矶奥运会上全面回归的一次试运行。
It could be a trial run for a full Russian return at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
本届赛事的举办正值塞内加尔应对债务危机和公众对生活成本的不满之际。
The games come as Senegal grapples with a debt crisis and public frustration over living costs.
前政府数十亿美元未申报的债务导致塞内加尔当局几乎没有资金用于公共开支，而裁员和不断上涨的生活成本在近几个月加剧了抗议活动。
Billions of dollars of unreported debt by the previous administration have left Senegalese authorities with little money for public spending, while layoffs and rising living costs have fueled protests in recent months.
许多塞内加尔人在采访中表示，他们将维持生计放在优先于参加体育活动的位置上。
Many Senegalese said in interviews that they're prioritizing making ends meet over attending the sporting activities.
在一个政府领导的基金会宣布捐款5.00亿中非法郎（约合85.4万美元）为学龄儿童购买20万张门票后，该基金会受到了批评。批评人士对资金来源提出了质疑，总统的政治运动表示资金来自捐赠者和慈善家。
A government-led foundation drew criticism after announcing a contribution of 500 million CFA francs (about $854,000) to buy 200,000 tickets for school children. Critics questioned the money’s source, which the president’s political movement said was from donors and benefactors.
法耶总统为赛事开支进行了辩护，他提到了翻新的体育设施、对年轻人的培训以及给塞内加尔企业带来的合同。
President Faye has defended spending on the games, citing renovated sports facilities, training for young people and contracts for Senegalese businesses.