Ecuador’s Elvira Espinosa claimed the first gold medal of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games with a record personal best in the women’s 400m freestyle on Sunday, November 1st.
Espinosa clocked 4:22.87 to finish 3.26 seconds ahead of South Africa’s Leah Markgraaff. Belgium’s Célya Paques took bronze.
The victory also made Espinosa the first Ecuadorian woman to win gold at any Youth Olympic Games.
Egypt’s Zain Ali won the men’s 100m butterfly in 52.16. Serbia’s Aleksej Kalanj took silver, while Slovakia’s Matiáš Krištof finished third.
New Zealand’s Ariel Muchirahondo claimed the men’s 200m backstroke title in 1:59.15. Argentina’s Cecilia Dieleke won the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:10.05, ahead of Greece’s Eirini Zervou.
Senegal earns first medal as action continues across Dakar
Ukraine’s Khazar Heydarov won the men’s 66kg judo final against Canada’s Anes Mati. He secured the victory by hansoku-make in golden score.
Senegal’s Matar Diop then won bronze with a waza-ari, giving the host nation its first medal of the Youth Olympic Games.
Azerbaijan’s İbrahim Talıbov took men’s 55kg gold after beating Croatia’s Jona Žvorc by waza-ari. Türkiye’s Sema Yuksel won the women’s 44kg final, defeating Jordan’s Houda Wshah by ippon.
Senegal also made a strong start in women’s futsal, beating Fiji 8-1 in Group A on the competition’s opening day.
Elsewhere, Egypt recorded the fastest time in the second mixed double sculls time trial in rowing coastal beach sprints. Senegal’s Aminata Tine and Nafi Segnane beat the Dominican Republic 2-0 in women’s beach volleyball.
Türkiye defeated Senegal 2-0 in baseball5, while France dominated Japan with a 48-0 win in men’s rugby sevens.
Monday’s programme includes the mixed double sculls gold medal race at 12:55 Dakar time, which is GMT.
Swimming’s 100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke finals begin at 15:00. Three more judo finals will follow, before the men’s rugby sevens gold medal match at 17:05.
