Is canoeing at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games? Why Dakar has no canoe sprint or slalom medals

Published

2026-10-28T15:06:14+00:00

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PaddleStats

Full competition results: 2026 CAC Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe African Championships - Boumerdes

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games open on 31 October and run until 13 November, but canoeing will have no medal events in Senegal. Instead, it is one of ten “engagement sports”, with interactive displays and a chance to try a paddling ergometer on Dakar’s Corniche Ouest. This will be the first Summer Youth Olympics without canoeing on the medal programme.

Neither canoe sprint nor canoe slalom will feature in the competition schedule. The sport will still have a presence, though, led by some of Senegal’s most experienced paddlers. Here is what has changed, what visitors can expect and where to find this season’s results for young canoeists and kayakers.

Dakar 2026 at a glance

Dakar will host the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games and the first Olympic Games on African soil. Senegal was originally due to stage the event in 2022, but it was postponed by four years in response to the pandemic.

Competition will take place across three zones. In Dakar, the Iba Mar Diop complex will host athletics, futsal, rugby sevens and taekwondo. The Tour de l’Œuf complex will stage swimming, 3x3 basketball, baseball5, breaking and skateboarding, while the road cycling races will start and finish on the Corniche Ouest.

Diamniadio, around 30 km east of the capital, will host badminton and futsal at Dakar Arena. Artistic gymnastics, judo, fencing, table tennis, boxing and wushu will take place at the Dakar Expo Centre. Archery will be held at Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, with jumping at the equestrian centre. Saly will host the beach sports, sailing, triathlon and coastal rowing. These allocations follow the IOC’s current venue guide.

Age limits vary by sport. Athletics is open to athletes born in 2009 and 2010, while women’s artistic gymnastics has a 14–15 age range. There is no single age group covering the whole Games. Places have been allocated through National Olympic Committee quotas and eligibility criteria set by the international federations. The new framework removes the requirement for dedicated Youth Olympic qualifying events, with particular emphasis on participation by all 54 African NOCs.

Which sports are on the Dakar 2026 programme?

The programme has two strands: competition for medals and activities designed to introduce the public to different sports.

Canoeing is therefore one of several Olympic sports without medal events in Dakar. Tennis, shooting and weightlifting are also part of the engagement programme. Rowing retains a place in the competition schedule, but in its coastal form at Saly rather than on a conventional regatta course.

Why does canoeing have no medal events?

The change is part of a broader overhaul of the Youth Olympics. In June 2024, the IOC Executive Board approved a new approach, with Dakar the first edition to adopt it. Each programme is intended to suit the host’s circumstances and is developed with the organising committee and international federations. All 35 federations remain involved in Dakar, although only 25 sports have medal events.

The principles include:

• one discipline from each sport on the competition programme;
• competition at an appropriate elite youth level;
• no medal events for teams combining athletes from different NOCs;
• new competition formats;
• a programme suited to Senegal and the African sporting context;
• a quota of 2,700 athletes, split equally between girls and boys.

The one-discipline rule should not, however, be presented as the established reason for canoeing’s exclusion from the medal programme. Minutes of the ICF Board meeting on 2 July 2024 record the federation’s efforts to adapt the format to local conditions and its disappointment at the IOC’s decision. The IOC’s representative explained the wider changes to the Youth Olympic programme and stressed that engagement status was neither a judgement on the sport or its federation nor a decision about its Olympic future.

There is also an important distinction to make about the previous Games. At Buenos Aires 2018, every paddler had to compete in both sprint and slalom. Medals were awarded separately in the two formats, however: this was not a single combined event with an overall result. Compulsory participation in both did not mean a combined medal classification.

Canoeing at previous Youth Olympics

Hungary topped the canoeing medal table in Buenos Aires with two golds and a silver. The athletes eligible for those Games were born in 2002 and 2003 and are now of senior racing age.

What will canoeing look like in Dakar?

All ten engagement sports will feature in the “Let’s Move” zone on the Corniche Ouest. The Senegalese Canoe-Kayak Federation is leading the paddling activities in cooperation with the ICF. Plans include interactive displays and a hands-on paddling ergometer experience, intended to introduce the sport to visitors and encourage young Senegalese people to take it up. The ICF’s announcement does not confirm on-water taster sessions for the public.

The IOC has selected four Senegalese paddlers as Athlete Role Models. They will meet young people, support athletes taking part in the Games and share their experience of international sport.

Combe Seck brings experience from the Paris Olympic regatta. Seck competed in the women’s C1 200 m at Paris 2024, where her campaign ended in the quarter-finals. She also carried Senegal’s flag at both the opening and closing ceremonies.

In October, she won two silver medals at the African Championships in Boumerdès. Her time of 56.05 seconds in the C1 200 m final put her 0.86 seconds behind Herminia Santana of São Tomé and Príncipe, with Egypt’s Farah Hewidy third. In the C2 500 m, Seck and Mame Diarra finished second in 2:27.92, behind Hewidy and Asmaa Aly. Earlier in the season, Seck reached the C1 500 m semi-final at the World Championships in Poznań.

Jean-Pierre and Yves Bourhis represent canoe slalom. Between them, the brothers have competed at three editions of the Olympic Games: Jean-Pierre raced in Rio and Tokyo, and Yves in Paris. Jean-Pierre, the elder brother, is also a two-time African Championship gold medallist.

Edmond Sanka represents paracanoe. Sanka finished fifth in the men’s KL3 final at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. He won silver in KL3 200 m in Boumerdès, clocking 43.94 seconds to finish 1.22 seconds behind home favourite Brahim Guendouz of Algeria. Egypt’s Noureldin Ramadan took bronze, while Sanka’s compatriot Babacar Diop was fifth. At the Poznań World Championships, Sanka finished fourth in the B final in 42.99 seconds.

For more on the Boumerdès championships, see our preview and reports from day one and day two. Egypt won nine of the 15 finals on the second day, 11 October.

Where to find young paddlers’ results from 2026

There will be no Youth Olympic medal results in canoe sprint or slalom from Dakar. Fans following the next generation can instead look back at this season’s junior championships and Olympic Hopes Regatta.

Olympic Hopes offers a useful comparison across three young age groups. Singles races have separate categories for 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds, while some crew-boat categories combine age groups. It is not a direct equivalent of the former Youth Olympic canoeing competition, which also required paddlers to race in slalom. Nor can its competitors simply be described as the athletes who would have gone to Dakar: there are no canoeing places on the medal programme for these Games.

The World Championships in Halifax and Kraków covered two categories: juniors, eligible through the calendar year in which they turn 18, and U23s. Neither championship was restricted to 15–17-year-olds.

What comes next for youth canoeing and the Olympic programme?

The absence of canoeing medal events in Dakar does not change the programme for Los Angeles 2028. Canoe sprint and slalom, including kayak cross, will retain a total of 16 medal events, as confirmed by the ICF. Brisbane offers another target for young paddlers: those born in 2009 and 2010 will turn 23 and 22 respectively in 2032.

This year’s senior championships offered a glimpse of the standard they will be aiming for. Sprint world titles were decided in Poznań, and slalom titles at the World Championships in Oklahoma City. The European slalom champions were crowned in Ivrea, while continental sprint titles were contested in Montemor-o-Velho and Hefei. The Canoe Marathon World Championships in Gualeguaychú, which ended on 25 October, were among the season’s last major events.

Junior sprint and slalom championships will remain key targets next season, alongside Olympic Hopes for those still eligible. A return to the Youth Olympic medal programme would require a separate decision. The model adopted for Dakar neither guarantees that return nor rules it out.

Frequently asked questions

Will there be canoe sprint racing at Dakar 2026?

There are no canoe sprint medal events. Canoeing will instead feature in the engagement zone on the Corniche Ouest, with interactive displays and a paddling ergometer experience.

Is canoe slalom on the Dakar 2026 programme?

There are no canoe slalom medal events. Slalom paddlers Jean-Pierre and Yves Bourhis will help promote the sport through the Athlete Role Models programme.

Why does canoeing have no medal events?

Under the changes approved in 2024, the IOC divided Dakar’s programme into 25 competition sports and ten engagement sports. Canoeing is in the second group. The one-discipline-per-sport rule has not been established as the decisive reason for that decision.

When are the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games?

The official dates are 31 October–13 November 2026. Baseball5 begins on 30 October, a day before the opening ceremony. Events will take place in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, Senegal.

How many sports and medal events are there?

There are 153 medal events across 25 competition sports. A further ten sports, including canoeing, tennis, surfing and sport climbing, will feature in the engagement programme without medals.

Where can I find results for young paddlers?

See the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Bratislava and the Junior World Championships in Halifax for sprint and Kraków for slalom. These are separate competitions with their own formats and age limits, not part of the Dakar Games.

Who will represent canoeing in Dakar?

The IOC has selected four Senegalese paddlers as Athlete Role Models: Combe Seck from sprint, Jean-Pierre and Yves Bourhis from slalom, and Edmond Sanka from paracanoe. Seck and Sanka will arrive following silver medals at October’s African Championships in Boumerdès.

Will canoeing return to the Youth Olympic medal programme?

No return has been confirmed. Programmes for future editions will be decided separately. Canoe sprint and slalom remain on the Olympic programme for Los Angeles 2028.

In Dakar, canoeing will have a different role from its previous Youth Olympic appearances: introducing the sport to people who may be picking up a paddle for the first time. Senegal’s experienced athletes will help make that introduction, among them Combe Seck, a Paris Olympian and her country’s flag bearer.

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