International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry attended the karate showcase at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on 1 November, as the sport took centre stage on its Focus Day. She visited the inauguration of the Engagement Area, where she joined the karate presentation and watched demonstrations highlighting the sport’s competition and values.
Welcomed by the WKF delegation
Accompanied by IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey, Kirsty Coventry was welcomed by the World Karate Federation (WKF) delegation on site:
- Douglas Brose, karate’s Athlete Role Model for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and WKF Athletes’ Commission chair;
- Toshihisa Nagura, WKF General Secretary;
- Sara Wolff, WKF CEO;
- Ivan Delfino, WKF Events Manager;
- Souleymane Gaye, UFAK President and WKF Executive Committee member;
- Mouhamed El Moctar Diop, President of the Karate Federation of Senegal.
Kata and kumite by Senegal’s team
The IOC President watched a team kata and kumite demonstration performed by athletes from the Senegal national team, a chance to experience the sport’s technical skills, sporting spirit and core values. She also took time to chat with Moustapha Cisse Mouhamadou and Mbacke Seck Serigne, the Senegalese karateka who won bronze at the 2026 World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships in Poland in October, and who also attended the event.
SOS Children’s Villages on the tatami
The presentation also highlighted karate’s social impact through the participation of a delegation of children from SOS Children’s Villages Senegal. The WKF has formalised a partnership with SOS Children’s Villages to bring karate closer to children and teenagers across its international network, and Senegal is one of the hubs where the initiative is being developed. The project aims to give young people a safe, structured and values-based environment in which to develop physically, emotionally and socially through karate.
Partner
The children took part in the demonstration and had the opportunity to talk with Kirsty Coventry and share their experiences of karate. At the end of the presentation, Sara Ndao, representative of SOS Children’s Villages Senegal, handed the IOC President a commemorative shirt celebrating karate’s social legacy.
Karate is one of the engagement sports in Dakar, as we explained in Dakar 2026: karate trades the podium for an open tatami.
Antonio Espinós: “the strength of karate among young people”
WKF President Antonio Espinós thanked the IOC President for her visit: “I would like to thank IOC President Kirsty Coventry for taking the time to visit our karate presentation and witness first-hand the strength of karate among young people and the many values that our sport represents.
“I hope Mrs Coventry enjoyed the sporting spirit demonstrated by the young karatekas and appreciated the values of karate that go beyond sporting activity, particularly its contribution to social inclusion through the participation of children from SOS Children’s Villages.
“I would also like to thank the WKF delegation on site for putting together this showcase. I hope the public in Senegal has the opportunity to appreciate the added value that karate brings to multisport events and the positive impact our sport can have on young people.”
Source: wkf.net, 1 November 2026. Photo: WKF.