Australia wins six Youth Olympics medals as African Games hailed

Australia has come away from the 2026 Youth Olympic Games with six medals as Senegal held up its hands for the Olympic movement in Africa.

The Dakar Games were the first Olympic event to be hosted in Africa, with organisers hailing the success as further proof of the continent's ability to host major international competitions.

South Africa, which staged the men's FIFA World Cup in 2010, is among countries in talks with the IOC about hosting the 2036 Olympic Games.

Nearly 2,700 athletes aged 14 to 17 competed across 25 sports and 153 medal events over two weeks in Senegal.

"I think that everyone came here with certain expectations and I think those expectations have been far exceeded," International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said on Thursday.

"It has been an magnificent journey. It has been extremely magical.

"I think we've shown the world the capability that we have and now we need to choose to take that forward," the Zimbabwean two-time Olympic champion added.

Australia's six medals included four silvers and two bronzes.

Boxer Marley Dodd claimed silver in the men's 55kg event, while Mackenzie Macdonald claimed Australia's first ever taekwondo Youth Olympic Games medal in the 49kg category.

Australia's cyclists excelled, with Elsie Apps winning silver and Caleb McKenzie bronze on the same day in the women's and men's road races.

Tasmania's McKenzie, who was diagnosed with the autoimmune illness Hashimoto’s disease earlier this year, led the race via a brave breakaway right up until the final lap before sprinting for bronze.

"I wasn't on the bike for a long time," McKenzie told Olympics.com.

"I couldn't ride my bike, I couldn't train and nothing really went well for me.

"I finally pulled it together at the end of this year and had a really good ride. I had the confidence. We talked about it before we raced about having confidence in yourself, and we said, 'If you believe, you achieve'."

"I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I was given to be able to go out there and get a medal," Apps said.

"It's been really inspiring. To have a little taste of what it would be like, it really makes you want more and hopefully I can make it there [to Brisbane 2032]."

Queensland's beach volleyball pairing Thomas Turner and Ryan Edgar won bronze, while the women's rugby sevens teams were only denied gold in an extra-time thriller against Kenya, which claimed a first ever Olympic rugby sevens title for the nation.

Apps and Dodd were named as closing ceremony flag bearers, with Chef de Mission Kenny Wallace said the success gave him a lot of positivity heading to Brisbane 2032.

"To summarise the last two weeks … it would come down to being proud," he said.

"I'm inspired by what our Australian sporting ecosystem has in store leading into LA28 and into Brisbane 2032.

"When we came into this campaign, we hoped Dakar would become that important milestone for our emerging athletes with Brisbane 2032 on the horizon.

"It's been incredibly inspiring to see the athletes developing even further here in Dakar and understanding what it means to be part of an Australian team.

"That is what a Youth Olympic Games can do. I really look forward to seeing some of the faces that we've had in the team here in Brisbane."

Beach wrestling's Olympic debut brought particular pride to Senegal, where wrestling is a national sport, with 16-year-old Elisabeth Diatta's win the first for the host nation.

Other Youth Olympic debuts included baseball5, a simplified version of baseball, skateboarding, and the Chinese martial art wushu.

China finished with the most gold medals, 18, followed by Japan with 11 and Russia with eight.

Three African countries came next: Egypt with six, and Ethiopia and Senegal with five each.

The IOC staged the first summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore, however it has delayed naming the host for the next event, set to take place in 2030.

"We took a pause … and we are analysing and that's where we are. We are still analysing. The data we will collect from Dakar will be added," Coventry said.

"As we move forward, the way we want to engage with young people is extremely important. We have to analyse what will be the best way for the movement to continue in the future."

Coventry noted that just 15 per cent of athletes who have competed at the Youth Olympic Games have gone on to compete at the full Olympics.

Jess Fox and Emma McKeown are notable Australians who made the leap, winning gold at the Youth Olympic Games before going on to claim 20 Summer Olympic Games medals between them.

"We have to be very realistic about what we want the Youth Olympics to be," Coventry said.