Youth Olympics: Golden boxing duo, Dhinidhi stand out for India

• India finish with 10 medals in Dakar, their second-best Youth Olympic Games haul after 2018.

• Gunjan and L. Ambekar Meetei win India's first-ever boxing gold medals at the Games.

• Dhinidhi wins two swimming bronzes as India claim maiden medals in swimming, beach wrestling and wushu.

Swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, the first Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Youth Olympic Games, and the country's two gold-medal-winning boxers were among the standout performers as India concluded their campaign at the 2026 edition in Dakar, Senegal, with a haul of 10 medals. This was India's second-best performance at the Games, after the 2018 edition, when the country won 13 medals.

Gunjan and L. Ambekar Meetei secured India's first-ever boxing gold medals at the Games, which serve as a breeding ground for potential champions. India also won three silver and five bronze medals across seven disciplines.

Five of the medallists were Khelo India athletes (KIAs) — Tanvi Patri (badminton), Khushbu Rajakbhai (judo), Shourya Ambure (athletics), Gunjan (boxing) and Tirthank Pegu (swimming).

Competing in 11 disciplines, Indian athletes won medals in seven, including the country's first-ever podium finishes in swimming, beach wrestling and wushu. In boxing, L Ambekar Meetei clinched gold in the men's 50kg category, while Gunjan won the women's 48kg title.

Besides boxing's perfect campaign, with two gold medals, India registered breakthrough performances across several sports. Swimming was the country's most productive discipline, accounting for three of its 10 medals and delivering India's first-ever medals in the sport at the Youth Olympics.

Tanvi won silver in the women's singles event, becoming the first Indian woman to claim a badminton medal at the Youth Olympics. Bengaluru swimmer Dhinidhi, meanwhile, won bronze in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. In beach wrestling, Taniya secured silver, giving India its first-ever medal in the discipline at the Games.

Dhinidhi qualified for the 200m freestyle final after clocking 56.80 seconds in the heats, the third-fastest time overall. She improved her timing by 0.53 seconds in the final, setting a national record and securing bronze.

Although she had set her sights on gold, Dhinidhi took pride in the bronze, describing it as an important milestone in her journey. The podium finish has strengthened her resolve to pursue her dream of winning an Olympic medal, while also inspiring more girls to take up swimming — a discipline in which India has yet to establish itself at the highest level.

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 trainee at the Sports Authority of India's National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Imphal, won bronze in the women's Changquan combined event, securing India's first medal in the discipline at the Youth Olympics.