The Youth Olympic Games were created by the International Olympic Committee to bring together the world’s most promising young athletes in an environment that reaches far beyond competition. Since the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010, the Games have combined sporting excellence with education, cultural exchange and the promotion of Olympic values. Their guiding spirit "Learn, Share, Act" invites young athletes to grow not only as competitors but also as responsible and engaged members of the global community.
LIST OF ATHLETES
Selected for the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026
Dakar 2026 will be particularly significant. Taking place from 31st October to 13th November, it will be the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games and, above all, the first Olympic sporting event ever to be staged on African soil. Senegal will welcome the world’s youth under the motto ‘Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates,’ placing the energy, creativity and ambitions of a young continent at the heart of the Olympic Movement.
Judo will take place from 1st to 3rd November and will bring together 96 judoka representing 95 delegations. The selection embodies the universal character of the sport: 48 young women and 48 young men, with virtually every athlete carrying the hopes of a different nation. The only delegation with two representatives is the host nation, Senegal.
The individual tournament will feature four men’s categories, -55 kg, -66 kg, -81 kg and -100 kg, and four women’s categories, -44 kg, -52 kg, -63 kg and -78 kg. Each category will include 12 athletes.
The format reflects the YOG ambition to give a remarkably broad international platform to young talent. The official Dakar 2026 programme lists eight judo medal events, all individual, with exact gender parity across the 96 places. For these young judoka, the journey to Senegal will be much more than a tournament; it will be an encounter between cultures, a shared learning experience and a first step onto the Olympic stage.