Youth Olympic Games open in Dakar with swimming and judo finals

The fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games opens in Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday, November 1, with the first eight gold medals contested across swimming and judo, OA Sport reported. Italian athletes enter the opening day with medal ambitions in the pool alongside entries in beach sprint rowing and the debut of the women’s futsal national team.

When do the first swimming and judo finals take place in Dakar?

Competition gets underway with preliminary rounds across multiple disciplines before the afternoon medal sessions. Swimming features five medal events starting with morning heats at 12:00 local time, followed by finals at 16:00 that include the women’s 400-meter freestyle, men’s 800-meter freestyle, women’s and men’s 200-meter backstroke, and women’s and men’s 100-meter butterfly. Judo awards its first three gold medals in the women’s -44kg and men’s -55kg and -66kg categories, with preliminary bouts opening at 11:00 and medal finals scheduled for 17:00.

Which Italian athletes are competing on November 1?

Italy fields a busy roster on opening day across the pool, coastal waters, and team sports. In swimming, Greta Rossi contests the women’s 200-meter backstroke heats at 12:00, while Filippo Aloisi enters the men’s 800-meter freestyle heats at 12:53. Coastal rowing features beach sprint time trials for the mixed double at 11:00, Davide Gazzola in the men’s single at 11:45, and Giorgia Cassina in the women’s single at 12:20, with mixed double elimination rounds following in the afternoon. Beach volleyball pairs Margherita Coretti and Micol Lafuenti take on Japan’s Kato Auru and Nakagawa Mei in Pool D at 11:10, ahead of a second match against Nigeria’s Pamela Bawa and Joy Lawrence at 16:10. In combat and racket sports, Francesco Trevisan opens his table tennis preliminary campaign against Tunisia’s Youssef Aidli at 12:10 and later faces Hong Kong’s Ki Ho Li at 17:30, while Lorenzo Armani competes in the men’s Taijiquan combined wushu preliminaries at 16:12. The women’s national futsal team makes its tournament debut against Cameroon in Group B at 13:00.

Dakar 2026 is just over a month away. 🌍The first Olympic sporting event to be held in Africa is coming to Senegal, with 2,700 young athletes set to compete across 25 sports.Want to be there? Tickets are available here – https://t.co/5sX1bShuaD 🎟️ pic.twitter.com/RjlnPlyPnr
— https://x.com/Olympics/status/2103853883911254425

How can viewers watch the Youth Olympic Games on television and streaming?

Television coverage in Italy airs via Rai Sport HD from 13:05 to 13:55. Live streaming is available on Rai Play during that same afternoon window. Comprehensive streaming of every event across the entire competition is accessible on the official Olympic Channel, while HBO Max and Discovery Plus carry dedicated coverage of swimming, beach volleyball, and futsal. OA Sport provides a live text blog starting at 10:00.

What is the complete schedule for opening day?

The Sunday program spans nine venues across Dakar:

Youth Olympic Games open in Dakar with swimming and judo finals — Photo: alpost.ch

09:30 – Beach volleyball, men’s and women’s group stage
10:00 – Badminton, men’s and women’s singles group stage
10:30 – Table tennis, men’s and women’s singles preliminary rounds
10:30 – Wushu, preliminary rounds (women’s Taijishan, Gunshu; men’s Changquan, Taijiquan)
11:00 – Women’s futsal, group stage
11:00 – Judo, preliminary rounds (women -44 kg; men -55 kg, -66 kg)
11:00 – Coastal rowing, beach sprint time trial 2 (mixed double, men’s single, women’s single)
11:30 – Baseball5, mixed team opening round
11:30 – Men’s rugby sevens, group stage
12:00 – Swimming, preliminary heats
12:30 – Coastal rowing, beach sprint mixed double semifinals
15:30 – Badminton, men’s and women’s singles group stage
16:00 – Swimming, finals (women’s 400m freestyle, men’s 800m freestyle, women’s and men’s 200m backstroke, women’s and men’s 100m butterfly)
17:00 – Judo, finals (women -44 kg; men -55 kg, -66 kg)
20:00 – Table tennis, mixed doubles quarterfinals

What distinguishes the coverage across different broadcast platforms?

Alpost.ch noted the opening of the fourth edition in Dakar alongside local weather reports and financial figures, echoing the core schedule details reported by OA Sport. Viewers balancing broadcast options face distinct platform limitations: Rai Sport HD and Rai Play restrict their live television and digital window to a fifty-minute afternoon broadcast from 13:05 to 13:55, whereas subscription services HBO Max and Discovery Plus focus specifically on aquatics, beach sports, and futsal. The International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Channel remains the sole platform streaming every single discipline from the opening ceremonies through the evening medal sessions.