Team South Africa scooped three medals on Day 2 of Athletics competition at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games with the golden moment coming from Matao Le Roux in the men’s High jump final on Monday 9 November.
In a tightly contested high jump final, Le Roux’s first-time clearance at 2.16m proved too much for Sen Liu of China who had two failures at that height and another at 2.18m.
“Today, I woke up with a positive feeling. As the day went on, I told myself to lock in. I told myself to do my best today, and get a medal,” said Le Roux of his mindset for the gold.
“I had the mindset the whole time that I’m going to medal. I didn’t know it was going to be gold. I would have been happy with any medal, bronze, silver or gold. You never know what to expect.
“The belief I have in myself now is super high. If you don’t believe in yourself, where are you going to get in life? At the end of the day, it’s just you and you.”
China’s Sen Liu secured the silver medal with 2.14m while Egypt’s Ahmed Mohamed Zaki Mohamed took bronze with 2.09m.
“I was very psyched today. I didn’t expect anything jumping so high, not even me,” Matao Le Roux reflects on been pushed to 2.16m by Liu.
“I’m very proud of him for pushing me so far. The adrenaline was just insane. The sun gave me a headache the whole time. I just hoped that I could clear it. I’m so proud of being a South African.”
Elsewhere on the field, South Africa’s Darius Botha claimed a bronze medal in the men’s Discus final with a third round throw of 19.23m. Brazil’s Pyetro Henrico Souza won the title with a throw of 19.79m, while Jamaica’s Xhaevion Kelly took silver with a best of 19.34m.
Enrique Bosch claimed a second bronze medal for South Africa in the men’s 110m hurdles final. Despite slipping in his blocks, the 17-year-old finished strongly to cross the line third in 13.45 seconds. Jamaica’s Marquies Page won gold in 12.95 while China’s Shijie Chen took silver in 13.40.
“I wanted to run better, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. You just have to accept it and know that God has better plans,” said Bosch.
“I’m still young, and I still have a lot of opportunities to improve my best. I still have the world lead, so I’m just really thankful.”
Sawaby clinches Egypt’s first gold medal
In the men’s Discus final, Egypt’s Yahya Sawaby broke the U18 African record to claim the Youth Olympic title with a throw of 68.23m, moving him to seventh on the world U18 all-time list.
Sawaby opened with a throw of 67.10m, then improved in the third round with an U18 African record to win the title.
Jamaica’s Kamari Kennedy claimed the silver medal with 66.31m, while Chile’s Vittorio Gorziglia took bronze with 56.00m.
Praise Ugoh wins Nigeria’s third gold
Nigeria claimed yet another gold medal on the track as Tejiri Praise Ugoh smashed her personal best to win the women’s 400m Youth Olympic title.
Praise Ugoh went out hard in the early stages and hung on to win in 52.76 seconds, holding off fast-finishing Venezuelan Osmary Pacheco, who took silver in 52.85. United Arab Emirates’ Aisha Muhammed took bronze in 53.06.
“When coming here, I wasn’t expecting anything like 52 or 53,” she said. “I prayed to get bronze or silver for my country. Today I brought back the gold for them.”
Historic first Olympic medal for The Gambia
Gambia’s Mustapha Jadama became the first Gambian to win an Olympic medal at either the youth or senior Games.
Despite a fast start in the men’s 400m final, Jadama suffered an injury in the latter stages of the race but did enough to hang on for silver in 46.93.
United Arab Emirates’ Saeed Omar won the gold in 46.40 while China’s Han Liu took the bronze in 47.16.
“It’s been difficult to get here. I really wanted to do a special thing for my country,” he said. “I really need a scholarship so that I can achieve my goals.”
There was even more glory for Africa’s rising stars on Day 2 of Athletics competition as Kenya’s Faith Rono won the women’s 3000m in 9:15.47 ahead of Ethiopia’s Yordanos Tsigab.
Team Ethiopia won three titles through Wabi Seblega in the men’s 1500m, Junedin Abdo in the men’s 2000m steeplechase and Netsanet Selemon in the women’s 800m.
Kelly is a London-based sportswriter driven by a love for sport, with track and field at the heart of it. She began her journey as a sports reporter covering women's football, and has since gone on to cover major international competitions, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for Eurosport.
She breaks up her excessive screen time by running laps around the park or planning her next holiday!
