The Youth Olympics Games (YOG), the first mini-olympics (for lack of better words) to ever happen on African continent, came to an end yesterday. Senegal hosted the Dakar 2026 YOG in style and delighted us with amazing feat, with Africa winning a total 76 medals, more than at previous games : 27 gold, 17 silver, and 32 bronze. In Africa, Egypt led the medal board with a total of 12 medals including 6 gold medals, followed by Ethiopia with 8 medals (5 gold), and Senegal with 12 medals including 5 gold, Kenya with a total of 6 medals (4 gold), South Africa with 11 medals (3 gold), Nigeria with 3 medals all gold, while Zimbabwe got 1 gold medal. Egypt was the first country to offer Africa its first medal with 17 year-old Ali Zain who won gold on the Men’s 100m butterfly; he also won gold in the Men’s 50m and 100m butterfly.
The host country also won several medals including gold in Women’s Beach Wrestling with Ndeye Khady Anna Diatta, Elisabeth Diatta, and Maguette Diop. Madagascar won bronze in the 7 x 7 women rugby. Nigeria won 3 medals this time, all gold, and all in sprint distances. As always, Ethiopia and Kenya dominated the long distance disciplines.
Below are the tables for gold medals, with the medalists. All sources are to be found on the olympics.com website.
| Country | Gold Medals | Gold Medal Winners / Events |
| Egypt | 6 | Yahya Sawaby (Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw); Zain Ali (Swimming, Men’s 50m Butterfly); Zain Ali (Swimming, Men’s 100m Butterfly); Zain Ali (Swimming, Men’s 200m Butterfly); Youssef Hassan Kamal (Taekwondo, Men’s 48kg); Sondos Sonbol (Wushu, Women’s Changquan Combined) |
| Ethiopia | 5 | Yomif Abebe (Athletics, Men’s 800m); Wabi Seblega (Athletics, Men’s 1500m); Junedin Abdo (Athletics, Men’s 2000m Steeplechase); Netsanet Selemon (Athletics, Women’s 800m); Elasbet Amare (Athletics, Women’s 1500m) |
| Senegal | 5 | Men’s Team (3×3 Basketball); Ndeye Khady Anna Diatta (Beach Wrestling, Women’s 45kg); Elisabeth Diatta (Beach Wrestling, Women’s 55kg); Maguette Diop (Beach Wrestling, Men’s 80kg); Marie Sarr (Taekwondo, Women’s 55kg) |
| Kenya | 4 | Enock Tuitoek (Athletics, Men’s 3000m); Faith Rono (Athletics, Women’s 3000m); Abigael Kosgei (Athletics, Women’s 2000m Steeplechase); Women’s Team (Rugby Sevens) |
| South Africa | 3 | Matao le Roux (Athletics, Men’s High Jump); Megan Nieman (Athletics, Women’s 400m Hurdles); Callum Dreyer (Coastal Rowing Beach Sprints, Men’s Solo) |
| Nigeria | 3 | Gift Bright (Athletics, Men’s 100m); Rosemary Nwankwo (Athletics, Women’s 100m); Praise Ugoh (Athletics, Women’s 400m) |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | Ropafadzo Mzondo (Athletics, Men’s 200m) |
| Rank (Africa) | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Egypt | 6 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | Ethiopia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | Senegal | 5 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| 4 | Kenya | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | South Africa | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Nigeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Zimbabwe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Tunisia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Morocco | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | Algeria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Eritrea | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | The Gambia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Uganda | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Burkina Faso | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | Niger | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Burundi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Madagascar | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Zambia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
