India Secures Ten Medals In Historic Youth Olympics Campaign In Dakar
Synopsis
India finished its 2026 Youth Olympics campaign in Dakar with 10 medals across 7 disciplines. Swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu made history with two medals, while the nation celebrated several first-ever victories in boxing, wrestling, and wushu.
India Secures Ten Medals In Historic Youth Olympics Campaign In Dakar
New Delhi [India], November 13 (ANI): India concluded a historic campaign at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, winning 10 medals (2 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze) across 7 disciplines. The medalists included 5 Khelo India Athletes (KIAs) - Tanvi Patri (Badminton), Khushbu Rajakbhai (Judo), Shourya Ambure (Athletics), Gunjan (Boxing) and Tirthank Pegu (Swimming).
More than half the Indian contingent delivered on the biggest stage, with 9 of 17 athletes winning medals at the Youth Olympic Games, and swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu – a former TOPS athlete -- making history as the first Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Youth Olympic Games, according to a SAI Media release. India's 10-medal tally at Dakar marks its second-best performance, surpassed only by the 13 medals won at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
Gunjan and Lairenlakpam Meetei won India's first boxing golds, Shourya Ambure the first athletics medal, and Taniya the first youth wrestling medal. Of the 11 sports India competed in, the athletes won medals in 7 disciplines, including first-time medals in Swimming, Beach Wrestling and Wushu. India also won its first-ever gold medals in boxing at the Youth Olympic Games, with L. Ambekar Meetei clinching gold in the men's 50kg category, while Gunjan clinched gold in the women's 48kg category. With these 2 Gold medals, India also recorded the second highest number of gold medals it has won in a single edition of the Youth Olympic Games.
Besides Boxing delivering a perfect campaign with two gold medals, India also had breakthrough medals across multiple sports, including India's first 3 global medals in swimming, which was also India's most productive sport at the games, contributing 3 of the 10 medals. In Badminton, Tanvi Patri won a silver medal in the women's singles event, becoming the first Indian woman to win a Youth Olympic badminton medal. In Beach Wrestling, Taniya won silver, marking India's first-ever beach wrestling medal at the Youth Olympic Games. In Athletics, Shourya Ambure won bronze in the women's 100m hurdles, becoming the first Indian woman to win an athletics medal at the Youth Olympic Games. In Wushu, Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu, a SAI NCOE Imphal camper, won bronze in the women's Changquan combined event, which was India's first medal in Wushu at the Youth Olympics.
Indian Medallists at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games 2026
GOLD: 1) Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei – Boxing (Boys' 50kg) 2) Gunjan – Boxing (Girls' 48kg)
SILVER: 3) Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada – Judo (Girls' 63kg) 4) Tanvi Patri – Badminton (Girls' Singles)
BRONZE: 5) Dhinidhi Desinghu – Swimming (Girls' 100m Freestyle) 6) Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu – Wushu (Girls' Changquan Combined) 7) Dhinidhi Desinghu – Swimming (Girls' 200m Freestyle) 8) Tirthank Pegu - Swimming (Boys' 200m Butterfly) 9) Taniya - Beach Wrestling (Girls' Freestyle 75kg) 10) Shourya Ambure - Athletics (Girls' 100m Hurdles). (ANI)