Nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis has called for more international sporting events to be hosted in Africa, saying the experience will help the continent strengthen its position in global sport.
The American athletics legend said hosting major competitions would give African countries opportunities to showcase their cultures, develop organisational capacity and expose young athletes to the Olympic movement.
Lewis, who is in Senegal for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, told Olympics.com that the event was an important step towards expanding Africa’s presence on the international sporting stage.
“It's important for Africa to start hosting these events. In order for Africa to continue to grow on a worldwide basis, they have to host these types of events,” he said.
The Dakar 2026 Games, running from October 31 to November 13, are the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil.
Lewis, 65, recalled watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the first to be hosted on the continent, and being impressed by the number of players from Africa or of African descent who featured in the tournament.
He acknowledged that hosting major competitions came with challenges, particularly in infrastructure and logistics, but argued that countries needed opportunities to gain the experience required to stage such events successfully.
“That's how you learn. Every other event in every other city has had 50, 100 years to do this, and I think it's important for them to get started,” he said.
Africa has hosted several international athletics competitions, including the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya in 2007 and Uganda in 2017. Nairobi also hosted the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the World Under-20 Championships in 2021.
Botswana hosted the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, while Nairobi is scheduled to become the first African city to stage the senior World Athletics Championships in 2029.
Lewis described the planned championships as an “incredible opportunity”, expressing optimism about the performances athletes could produce at the event.
Beyond hosting rights, the former sprinter said Dakar 2026 would give young competitors valuable exposure to the Olympic environment, even if some did not eventually reach the senior level.
He said the experience would help those who progressed to understand what to expect when competing at major international events.
Lewis also stressed the importance of creating opportunities for athletes from all African countries to succeed, noting that the continent had produced outstanding champions over the years.
Among recent examples are Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who won the men's 200m at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon, who secured her third consecutive Olympic 1,500m title, and South Africa's Tatjana Smith, who won swimming medals at the Games.
Lewis won four gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. He finished his Olympic career with nine gold medals across four editions of the Games.
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