Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 ended on Tuesday with the Austrian delegation securing six medals across the two-week event in Senegal.
The 18-member Youth Olympic Team Austria collected one gold medal, one silver medal, and four bronze medals at the fourth Summer Youth Olympics, running from October 31 to November 13, 2026. This performance marks the second-best medal count in Austria’s history at the youth event, matching the output from Singapore 2010 and trailing only the 11 medals won at Buenos Aires 2018.
Beachvolleyball pair Paul Hohenauer and Martin Poinstingl captured the delegation’s sole gold medal in Senegal. Alena Lux and Lukas Schönhuber earned a silver medal in beach sprint.
Four bronze medals rounded out the podium finishes for the Austrian team. Judoka Selina Wögerer, fencer Lena Mayerl, long jumper Deborah Achleitner, and hurdler Zsombor Klucsik each finished third in their respective events.
“Das Youth Olympic Team Austria hat einen wirklich sehr, sehr guten Auftritt hingelegt,” said Horst Nussbaumer, ÖOC-Präsident. Nussbaumer said that the athletes approached the competition with high professionalism and concentration.
The event in Dakar was the first time the International Olympic Committee staged an Olympic competition on the African continent. The Games brought together roughly 2,700 athletes aged 14 to 18 from 204 nations across clusters in Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly.
“Man kann dem IOC zu dieser Entscheidung nur gratulieren,” said Florian Gosch, ÖOC-Generalsekretär. Gosch pointed to the enthusiasm in the stadiums and the passion for sport displayed by local spectators throughout the fortnight.
Beyond the six podium finishes, Austrian competitors recorded three fourth-place finishes and 14 total top-eight results across 26 starts.
While athletic competition concluded this week, the broader future of the Youth Olympic Games remains under review. The International Olympic Committee selected Chile, Paraguay, and Thailand as potential hosts for the 2030 event in December 2025, but suspended the process in the summer of 2026 to evaluate the format under its “Fit for the Future” initiative.
Potential adjustments include a redesign of the summer event or an increased emphasis on continental youth championships. Meanwhile, the next gathering on the youth Olympic calendar is already scheduled: the Winter Youth Olympics 2028 in the Italian region of Dolomiti Valtellina, slated for January 15 to 29, 2028.
“Sämtliche Athlet:innen konnten ihr Potenzial voll ausschöpfen, haben bis zur letzten Sekunde auf den Punkt alles gegeben,” said Ingemar Mayer, Chef de Mission for the Austrian delegation, confirming that all team members would return home healthy on Friday.
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