The Youth Olympic Games in Dakar are taking place under challenging conditions. Extreme heat, a lack of air conditioning in the Olympic Village, transport difficulties and even the cancellation of certain events have created additional obstacles for athletes.
Despite these challenges, Azerbaijan have already secured a gold medal thanks to judoka Ibrahim Talibov's victory in the men's 55kg category. As of November 6, the Azerbaijani delegation share 24th place in the medal standings with one gold medal.
In an exclusive interview with İdman.Biz, Anar Bagirov, Head of the International Relations Department of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan and Chef de Mission of the Azerbaijani delegation at the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026, discussed organizational problems, accommodation conditions and the medal prospects of Azerbaijani athletes.
He also explained why he believes the current format of the Youth Olympic Games is unfair and requires fundamental reform.
– Let's begin with your impressions of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. You have probably already formed an opinion about the organization, accommodation and other aspects. How would you assess the Games overall?
– First of all, I would like to say that we were aware in advance of many of the problems and difficulties our team would face in Dakar. We prepared for the worst. But, to be frank, that preparation actually helped because, when we arrived, many things turned out to be better than we had expected.
For example, the food in the Olympic Village is perfectly fine. There are certain everyday inconveniences. The rooms do not have private bathrooms or toilets, so the entire team uses shared facilities. However, they are cleaned many times a day, and there are practically never any queues. In that respect, everything is very good.
Of course, the extreme heat is a major challenge. There is no air conditioning in the rooms, only fans, which do not always help. In fact, they do not help very much at all. As a result, many athletes and delegation members are sleeping poorly because of the heat.
There are also transport problems. Some sports venues are easy and comfortable to reach. Athletes board a bus and arrive at the competition venue in 10-15 minutes along a direct route. But athletes in other sports have to make two transfers. Our swimmers, for example, spend an hour and a half, sometimes almost two hours, getting to the pool. The journey takes approximately 95–100 minutes.
Naturally, such a journey is exhausting for athletes, primarily because the buses have no air conditioning. Moreover, there are not always enough seats. Sometimes athletes have to sit on the floor.
All of this creates additional difficulties. An athlete should arrive at a competition ready to produce their best performance, and these conditions are certainly far from ideal.
Overall, it is worth noting that the first few days of any major Games usually involve considerably more problems. It takes time for everyone to adapt, for organizers to establish procedures and for the entire system to begin functioning properly.
I can say that after several days, many of the initial problems have already been resolved.
The bus schedule, for example, is now working properly. Transport departs according to the timetable. Cleaning in the Village, rooms, bathrooms and corridors is also carried out on time. All these everyday issues have gradually been sorted out. The system is functioning, and the important thing is that the organizing committee responds to problems.
– What has surprised you most about the organization, both positively and negatively?
– That is a difficult question. In fact, we were not surprised by the lack of air conditioning or the absence of direct transport to certain venues. We knew about all of that beforehand. Had it come as a surprise, it would certainly have been the biggest one.
On the positive side, I have been pleased by how safe everything feels and how hard the organizing committee is trying. The organizers genuinely want to be hospitable and present their country and culture in the best possible light. So far, they are succeeding.
Yes, there are difficulties. What we consider uncomfortable in terms of temperature, transport and other conditions may be perfectly normal for local residents. To some extent, we have to adapt to local circumstances.
But the organizers are making a real effort, and that has pleasantly surprised me. I expected things to be different.
Everyone here is friendly and very hospitable. The local organizing committee staff and volunteers genuinely want to deliver memorable Games.
On the negative side, I cannot really identify anything that has surprised me enormously. We knew about practically all the difficulties our athletes would encounter.
Moreover, when I speak with colleagues from other countries and other chefs de mission, I hear very similar assessments. They also say they expected much worse, so they regard what they have found here as quite acceptable.
I know some countries have experienced problems that they have had to resolve. Fortunately, we have not had any unpleasant incidents involving theft or lost belongings.
We approach everything in a very organized and careful manner. We constantly remind athletes and coaches to remain vigilant and not become complacent.
When it comes to transport, everyone must pay close attention to the schedule and their belongings. Phones and personal items must be kept secure. Coaches must always know where their athletes are.
Overall, Senegal, and Dakar in particular, is considered one of the safer places in Africa.
– So there have been cases of theft, although not involving our delegation?
– I know of one such incident. However, everything was recovered within a single day, the person responsible was identified, and all the stolen property was returned. That is an excellent example of the local police doing their job.
Thankfully, the incident had nothing to do with us. But even if it had, the fact that everything was found and returned within a day would still have been a positive outcome.
I think we would be unlikely to see that level of efficiency in many European countries.
– How have these conditions, including the heat, transport and accommodation problems, affected our athletes' performances?
– I do not think we should even say they "might have affected" performances. I am 100 percent certain that they do.
It is impossible to spend an hour and a half travelling in a bus that feels like a sauna, sweating constantly and becoming physically exhausted, then arrive at a swimming pool where the water temperature is 33–34 degrees Celsius and still produce the same result you would achieve under ideal conditions, when you are rested, well prepared and not exhausted.
And it all starts with how athletes sleep in the Olympic Village.
They share rooms with four people, which is not particularly comfortable in itself. When the room is also hot, they sleep poorly, toss and turn, and repeatedly wake up because of the heat.
Then they travel to competitions in hot buses, changing vehicles along the way, and afterwards they are expected to perform at their very best.
Conditions are better in some sports. For example, judo competitions take place in an air-conditioned hall. But the swimming pool is outdoors, so the water constantly heats up and reaches excessively high temperatures.
Our swimmer Suleyman Ismayilzade specializes in the 800m freestyle. However, because of the water temperature, the international federation decided that allowing young athletes to compete over 800 metres would pose a risk to their health. As a result, the event was cancelled.
Consequently, Suleyman was unable to compete in his main event. He previously swam the 400m and is due to compete in the 200m, but neither is his primary distance.
Nevertheless, we hope he can produce a good time and a respectable result.
However, when assessing his performance, we must take into account how he sleeps here, how he travels to the venue and the fact that the pool water is simply too hot.
Of course, this does not affect only our athletes. All participants face the same conditions, and I believe these circumstances influence everyone's results.
For example, beach wrestling and beach volleyball will also take place outdoors. But athletes in those sports are accustomed to such conditions. It is part of their sport.
Swimming in overheated water, however, is not something swimmers are accustomed to. It is not a normal part of their competitive environment.
The same applies to our taekwondo athletes, who have yet to arrive. Their arena has a roof, but the sides are open. Essentially, it consists of a roof, columns and stands, meaning the temperature inside is practically the same as outside.
That is an extremely uncomfortable environment in which to compete in taekwondo while wearing a uniform and full protective equipment.
So these will also be very difficult competitions for our taekwondo athletes.
– Which other Azerbaijani athletes do you expect to win medals?
– We have a very good team. We also understand that these Games are, first and foremost, competitions for young athletes.
At the same time, the quota allocation system has been equally poor and confusing for everyone. Therefore, in principle, all our athletes have a chance of achieving good results because everyone is competing under the same conditions.
There are difficulties with quota allocation across different sports. It is far from certain that the strongest athletes have qualified in every weight category.
Similarly, there is no guarantee that all the strongest competitors will be represented in a particular sport or in the event in which you are going to run, swim or compete.
That is why everyone on our team has a chance.
I believe every Azerbaijani athlete here is capable of producing a result that could earn them a medal.
Objectively speaking, however, winning a medal in swimming or athletics is considerably more difficult.
The reason is simple: there are many more participants and countries represented in those sports.
In disciplines with fewer competitors, particularly weight-category sports such as boxing, taekwondo and wrestling, our medal chances are higher even from a purely mathematical perspective.
Overall, I believe every young athlete in our delegation has an opportunity to perform well.
Athletes from other countries can also produce results below their usual standards.
For example, some swimmers here are already achieving times comparable to those of senior athletes. But under these conditions, even they can overheat, become physically and mentally exhausted, and ultimately fail to swim as well as they normally would.
That means we also have opportunities to win medals if we manage to overcome these difficulties.
– Given your extensive experience at senior Olympic Games and other major competitions, I would like to ask your opinion about the Youth Olympic Games format itself. Personally, I feel that the format has not yet been sufficiently developed, particularly regarding quota allocation and organizational matters. Do you agree?
– I have become firmly convinced that the Youth Olympic Games, in their current format and structure, should no longer exist.
First, they are unfair. Second, they are extremely expensive. Third, they are an event that practically nobody needs.
And I can explain each of these points.
Let us start with the unfairness.
The Youth Olympic Games take place every four years, but the eligible age range usually covers only two birth years.
As a result, entire generations of young athletes never have the opportunity to participate.
For example, if athletes born in 2009 and 2010 are eligible for the 2026 Games, those born in 2011 and 2012 are still too young.
But four years later, at the next Games, they will already be too old, because eligibility might then be limited to athletes born in 2013 and 2014.
In other words, two birth years effectively disappear from every Olympic cycle.
Those athletes will never have an opportunity to compete at the Youth Olympic Games. That alone is unfair.
The second issue is quota allocation, which is also extremely unfair.
For example, right now we have a reigning world champion who won his gold medal just a month or a month and a half ago.
Yet he is not here at the Olympic Games.
Despite being the reigning world champion, Azerbaijan simply did not receive a quota in his weight category.
And a similar situation affects most countries participating in judo.
They have world champions, Asian champions, European champions and winners of regional competitions, yet those athletes are not competing here because the quotas were allocated in what was effectively a random manner.
Now let us consider the cost of organizing these Games.
This is an extraordinarily expensive event. There are 206 countries participating, with a large number of sports represented, including Olympic and other disciplines.
Organizing such competitions means providing accommodation, food and transport for all participants, building the necessary infrastructure, ensuring lighting, technical and technological support, and much more.
All of this costs enormous amounts of money.
In terms of organizational expenditure, competitions of this scale are comparable to the senior Olympic Games. In other words, staging such an event is extremely expensive.
And there is one more issue: demand.
Look at how the senior Olympic Games are covered. Look at how television rights are purchased, how journalists work and how tickets are sold.
Consider how many tourists, spectators, sports fans and supporters of the Olympic Movement attend.
Look at how interested sponsors are in investing in the senior Olympic Games.
With the Youth Olympic Games, however, it seems that practically nobody is interested.
Therefore, organizing Games that are, first, unfair; second, disproportionately expensive; and third, of limited global interest is simply wrong.
This format needs to be reconsidered.
It must be restructured and fundamentally rethought.
Perhaps the Games should be held every two years, or perhaps a different system of qualification and organization should be developed.
I do not know what decision will ultimately be made.
But personally, if I were responsible for making that decision, I would focus on continental youth competitions.
For example, the Asian Youth Games, European Youth Games and similar competitions in Africa, the Americas and other regions.
Incidentally, Europe holds the European Youth Olympic Festival, or EYOF, every two years.
And I believe it is an ideal example of a fair approach to organizing competitions for young athletes.
Why?
Because the competitions take place every two years, giving every generation of young athletes an opportunity to participate.
Moreover, there is no qualification and quota allocation system like the one used at the Youth Olympic Games.
Participation is based on entries submitted by national Olympic committees.
We pay for an athlete's participation, accommodation and meals, making it possible to organize these competitions.
I consider that a fair approach.
In addition, around 50 countries participate, all from Europe, and we can select the sports ourselves.
In my opinion, this is a good example of how such events can be organized and staged in Europe.
What we are currently witnessing at the Youth Olympic Games, however, can hardly be described as an excellent example of how an event of this kind should be organized.
