Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics: team sports at the heart of Senegal's 136 athletes
Rugby 7s, futsal and beach handball account for 64 of Senegal's 136 selected athletes. What the delegation's make-up tells us about following the Games, from 31 October to 13 November.
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Senegal will not arrive at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games with a handful of isolated representatives. Its squad brings together 136 athletes across 23 disciplines for the event, which runs from 31 October to 13 November 2026. With thirteen days to go before the opening, the make-up of the delegation offers a first guide to following the host nation's teams: team sports take up a major share of it.
Rugby 7s alone accounts for 24 players, split between a women's squad and a men's squad of twelve. Futsal and beach handball have twenty athletes each, ten girls and ten boys. These three disciplines therefore account for 64 of the 136 selected athletes, close to half of the delegation.
Big squads for tournament play
This weight of numbers is not a medal forecast. It reflects, above all, how many players are needed to field two teams in the same sport. For spectators, it also means several fixtures involving the same group as a tournament unfolds.
Futsal, the five-a-side version of football, will therefore offer a different frame of reference from that of the major eleven-a-side national teams. Beach handball is played on sand, while rugby 7s puts seven players per team on the field. The squads selected include substitutes: twelve names registered in rugby does not mean twelve players on the pitch at the same time.
Other team events complete the picture. Basketball 3×3 has eight representatives on the Senegalese list, four girls and four boys. Baseball5 also brings together eight. The delegation is therefore not limited to individual disciplines, nor to the sports most visible in the professional leagues followed week in, week out.
Smaller entries in the individual sports
At the other end of the scale, sailing will be represented by Ousmane Thioune and equestrian by Eden Kazoum. Rowing has two names: Diadou Cissé and El Hadji Malick Lo. Judo, gymnastics, table tennis, triathlon and badminton are also in the squad.
These small groups say nothing, in themselves, about their athletes' chances. They mainly invite followers to track each athlete's progress individually, rather than directly comparing the number of representatives in one sport with the size of a full team. A delegation of 136 athletes does not mean 136 events, nor as many equal opportunities to reach the podium.
A list to help you follow the Games
The immediate task is to pick out the disciplines and athletes you want to follow. Rugby, futsal and beach handball will give a large place to women's and men's teams alike. The individual entries, for their part, will allow audiences to discover names still little known to the public.
The next shared milestone will be the opening of the YOG on 31 October. Competition will continue until 13 November: the announced delegation provides a starting point for following Senegal's participation, without turning this selection into a promise of results.