At the last event of the Dakar Youth Olympics, sneakers shrieked across the floor as breakdancers faced off.
asserted
breakdancers → shriek → floor
Baggy trousers carried national flags.
asserted
trousers → carry → flags
B-boys and B-girls dropped into six-step footwork, spun through windmills and defied gravity in sudden freezes.
asserted
boys → drop → freezes
Arms became legs, legs became arms, each move a challenge, each response a little more daring.
asserted
response → become → ?
Each of the teenaged breakers was part gymnast, part basketballer, part boxer all at once, and they brought a fitting energy to the end of a Youth Olympics held on the world’s youngest continent.
asserted
they → bring → continent
Before Senegal became the first African country to host an Olympic event, France’s development agency lent the already heavily indebted West African country 80 million euros ($88m) for sporting facilities for the games.
asserted
agency → become → games
It came as young people across the region are increasingly questioning the former colonial power’s lingering influence.
asserted
people → come → influence
At Dakar’s railway station, I watched French police helping secure the event.
asserted
police → watch → event
Above them stood a statue of two bronze soldiers – one African, the other French.
asserted
other → stand → soldiers
The African one, named Demba, represents the colonial troops who fought and died for France during World War I.
asserted
who → name → I.
The French one, named Dupont, rests an arm on his shoulder, a gesture of fraternity that others see as colonial paternalism.
asserted
others → name → paternalism
Beneath their gaze, politics and history still cast shadows over the games.
asserted
politics → cast → games
At the first swimming medal ceremony I attended, Russia’s 17-year-old Serafima Fokina stood on the podium, gold around her neck, singing her national anthem.
asserted
Fokina → attend → anthem
Some spectators rose.
asserted
spectators → rise → ?
Others remained seated.
asserted
Others → remain → ?
Israel competed too despite its genocidal war on Gaza.
asserted
Israel → compete → Gaza
A Senegalese man was arrested over a video opposing its participation that authorities described as threatening.
asserted
authorities → arrest → that
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) insists on political neutrality, a principle it considers fundamental to the Olympic spirit.
asserted
it → insist → spirit
“Youth athletes should not be held accountable for the actions of their governments,” the IOC said, arguing that sport offers them access to hope.
asserted
sport → hold → hope
But neutrality is a delicate ideal in a world divided by war, and the flags they carried can never be separated from the conflicts beyond the podiums.
asserted
they → divide → podiums
For Palestinian swimmer Alma Shaat, representing her country carried a different weight.
asserted
representing → represent → weight
She had a message for the children of Gaza.
asserted
She → have → Gaza
“Any little girl in Palestine right now, specifically Gaza, I would tell her … to continue following her dreams,” she told me.
asserted
she → tell → me
“She’s not doing it only for herself, but she’s doing it for the people in Gaza and in Palestine.”
asserted
she → do → Palestine
Senegal outperform France as China tops medal table
China ended up topping the medals table with 18 golds.
asserted
China → outperform → golds
Eighty Senegalese athletes had travelled not to France or the United States but to China to train before the fames, part of China’s soft diplomacy.
asserted
athletes → travel → diplomacy
For Senegal it paid off – they finished sixth, five golds to their name, ahead of France.
asserted
they → pay → France
At her final news conference of the games, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry fought back tears.
asserted
Coventry → fight → tears
The Zimbabwean, who is the first African and first woman to lead the IOC, had helped bring the games to Dakar.
asserted
who → lead → Dakar
I’m so grateful,” she said.
asserted
she → ’m → ?
Yet it did not all go smoothly.
asserted
it → go → ?
At the Olympic village, the real test of unity came with the heat as athletes stayed in university dormitories without air-conditioning.
asserted
athletes → come → conditioning
Outside the arenas, not everyone could get in.
uncertain
everyone → get → arenas
Events sold out.
asserted
Events → sell → ?
But neighbourhood sports offered another way to join the celebrations in a city where children play football in the streets, and wrestlers train on the beach.
asserted
wrestlers → offer → beach
And sometimes divisions appeared to matter more than national pride.
asserted
divisions → appear → pride
I overheard a French-speaking Swiss journalist dismiss the prospect of covering a medal won by a German-speaking Swiss athlete.
asserted
journalist → overhear → athlete
He also complained about the timing of events and the Olympic quota system, which limited participation to one athlete per country per event while giving greater representation to African nations.
asserted
which → complain → nations
But his complaints seemed strangely out of touch with the joyful spirit of the athletes, who were busy rewriting the rules.
asserted
who → seem → rules
They had taken hold of the microphones and the cameras themselves.
asserted
They → take → microphones
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
