IOC President Kirsty Coventry Joins Hockey’s Celebration at Dakar 2026
Hockey got the top billing at Dakar 2026 on Saturday, and the IOC President came to see it for herself.
Kirsty Coventry visited the hockey venue at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, at the Place du Souvenir, watching Hockey5s clinics alongside IOC Athlete Role Model Darcy Bourne of Great Britain and newly certified Senegalese coaches. FIH President Tayyab Ikram welcomed her to the venue.
Dakar 2026 is the first Olympic event ever hosted on African soil, and hockey is right in the middle of it. Hockey5s is a featured engagement sport at the Games, with daily workshops running through 14 November.
It’s a big moment for the sport. The IOC President doesn’t just drop by. Her visit is an endorsement of what hockey is doing in Dakar, and of Hockey5s as the format that takes the game to new places and new audiences.
For our money, this is the kind of story that matters beyond the scoreline. Dakar is hockey’s chance to show a whole continent what the game looks like up close. Having the IOC President in the stands, watching kids pick up a stick for the first time, is exactly how that happens.
