Olympics

10 champions crowned at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Gold medal winner Gunjan Gunjan IND on the podium for the medal ceremony alongside silver medallist Bouthaina Bensalah ALG and bronze medallists Lily Bassett GBR and Michela Guglielmon ITA in the Boxing Women’s 48kg Gold Medal contest in the Dakar Expo Center at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, Diamniadio, Senegal. Thursday 12 November 2026. Photo: OIS/Hassan Wamwayi. Handout image supplied by OIS/IOC

10 champions have been crowned as the boxing competition at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games concluded yesterday.

India and Uzbekistan both leave Dakar with two Youth Olympic champions. For India, Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam (M50kg) got the better of a close-call 3:2 split decision against Ireland’s Kristian Jubani. Gunjan Gunjan then followed that up in the women’s 48kg with a confident 5:0 victory over Algeria’s Bouthaina Bensalah.

Sabrina Chakomanova (W54kg) and Rushanabonu Isoeva (W60kg) topped the podium for Uzbekistan in their respective categories. They fought back-to-back in the 101st and 102nd bouts of the Youth Olympic Games, with Chakomanova securing a 5:0 win against Colombia’s Evelin Trejos Salas while Isoeva won 4:1 in her bout against Slovakia’s Karolina Kollarova.

Finals day began with the women’s 51kg final, which saw Venezuela’s Grenyelis Garcia unanimously defeat Azerbaijan’s Gular Huseynova 5:0 to claim gold. Garcia is an Olympic Solidarity-funded athlete and was one of the first women to represent her nation on this stage, alongside teammate Yenireé Castillo.

Jesfred Joel Torres Santiago, from Puerto Rico, earned a third-round RSC victory in his men’s 60kg final against Thailand’s Siwa Chainarong.

Brazil’s Sara Campos secured a third gold medal for the Americas courtesy of a 4:1 split decision victory against Aknur Tursyngali from Kazakhstan.

Great Britain’s Michael Maughan won gold in the men’s 70kg by defeating Kazakhstan’s Bibarys Ashirbay via a 4:1 split decision.

The men’s 55kg final was fought between Australia’s Marley Dodd and Georgia’s Emil Ismailov, with the Georgian delivering a dominant performance to win 5:0 and be named Youth Olympic champion.

The boxing competition came to a close with the 104th bout between Japan’s Kenshin Sakuno and Israel’s Artur Eytan Prohnevsky. The two were evenly matched but Sakuno did enough to win with a 4:1 split decision from the judges.

The boxing competition at the Youth Olympic Games took place from 7-12 November with bouts contested at the Dakar Expo Center in Diamniadio.

Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they aim to inspire young people through sport while providing athletes with invaluable experience of competing in an Olympic environment. Dakar 2026 was the first Olympic sporting event to be held on African soil.

Catch up with all the results on the Xempower website and re-watch watch every gold medal bout through the World Boxing website.

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Gold medal bouts confirmed following 20 world class semi-finals in Dakar

Bibarys Ashirbay KAZ (red) competing against Jorge Luis Nieblas Gutierrez MEX in the Boxing Men’s 70kg Semi-final contest in the Dakar Expo Center at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, Diamniadio, Senegal. Wednesday 11 November 2026. Photo: OIS/Remi Vallat. Handout image supplied by OIS/IOC

The penultimate day of boxing at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games is complete, with 20 semi-finals determining the gold medal bout lineup.

India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan enjoyed the most success and will have two boxers each lining up in the finals later today. Every boxer that exited the competition yesterday secured Youth Olympic Games bronze medals for their nation.

India’s two victories came for Gunjan Gunjan in the women’s 48kg, thanks to a 4:1 split decision, while Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam earned a unanimous decision win in his men’s 50kg bout.

Kazakhstan started the day strong with its two wins coming in the opening session. Aknur Tursyngali (W57kg) defeated Ukraine’s Yevanhelina Petruk via a 4:1 scoreline, followed by Bibarys Ashirbay unanimously defeating Mexico’s Jorge Luis Nieblas Gutierrez in the men’s 60kg.

Uzbekistan’s two successes both came in the evening session, with unanimous decision victories for Sabrina Chakomanova (W54kg) and Rushanabonu Isoeva (W60kg), coming against Kazakhstan’s Maral Tolepbergen and Egypt’s Menatalla Ibrahim respectively.

In the women’s 48kg Algeria’s Bouthaina Bensalah edged a close semi-final against Italy’s Michela Guglielmon, earning a 3:2 win that sets up a gold medal bout against Gunjan.

One semi-final wasn’t contested as Georgia’s Emil Ismailov was granted a walkover victory against Canada’s Lisandro Garcia Rebelo in the men’s 55kg. The Georgian will face Australia’s Marley Dodd in the final after he got the better of Sweden’s Zaheer Changazi with a tight 3:2 victory.

Venezuela’s Grenyelis Garcia is one of the first women boxers to represent her nation in this competition and will now compete for a gold medal after defeating Algeria’s Cerine Kessal in the women’s 51kg. She will face Azerbaijan’s Gular Huseynova following her 5:0 win against Canada’s Mehreen Khakh.

Catch up on every single result so far in the competition on the Xempower website and watch every gold medal bout live through the World Boxing website as 10 Youth Olympic champions are crowned.

Everything You Need to Know: Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Future Olympic boxing stars are set for the biggest stage of their young careers as athletes from across the globe come together to box at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.

This November, athletes will compete for Youth Olympic glory in the boxing competition. The event will bring together talent from every continent during one of the world’s largest multi-sport events for young people.

Here’s everything you need to know before the action gets underway.

What are the Youth Olympic Games?

The Youth Olympic Games are the world’s premier multi-sport event for young athletes, bringing together thousands of competitors from around the globe to compete across a wide range of sports.

Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they aim to inspire young people through sport while providing athletes with invaluable experience of competing in an Olympic environment. Dakar 2026 will be the first Olympic sporting event to be held on African soil.

When and where is it taking place?

The boxing competition at the Youth Olympic Games will take place in Dakar, Senegal from 7-12 November.

Bouts will be contested at the Dakar Expo Center in Diamniadio. Quarter-finals will begin from 9 November, with all semi-finals taking place on the penultimate day, followed by ten gold medal bouts on Thursday 12 November.

Each day will feature two sessions of boxing, starting at 12:00 and 17:00 (UTC).

Who will be competing?

A total of 114 boxers from 73 nations are set to compete in the boxing tournament, with athletes contesting medals across five men’s and five women’s weight categories.

MenWomen
50kg48kg
55kg51kg
60kg54kg
65kg57kg
70kg60kg

Grenyelis Garcia and Yenireé Castillo will make history by becoming the first women’s boxers to represent Venezuela in the competition, fighting in the 51kg and 54kg weight categories respectively.

Franco Leeroy Zialor, Seychelles’ sole boxer and one of four athletes representing the nation at Dakar 2026, will compete in the men’s 60kg category after taking up the sport only three years ago.  

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Ali Zaheer Changezi is a U17 European bronze medallist who will compete in the men’s 55kg division. Known as “Prince” Ali, he recently joined the Swedish team at the World Boxing U19 Championships in Budva, where he continued his preparations through training and sparring.

Why is it important?

The Youth Olympic Games have a proven track record of showcasing future champions by providing a world-class opportunity for the next generation of boxers.

Many former competitors have gone on to enjoy successful careers at senior international level, including World Boxing Athletes Committee Chair, Caitlin Parker, who earned bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics before earning the same medal ten years later at the Paris Olympics.

How to watch

Fans can watch every bout live through the World Boxing website, where the official stream will be available throughout the competition.

How to follow along

Live results, draw sheets, schedules and standings will be available throughout the competition via Xempower.

Follow World Boxing’s social media channels to keep up with future events:

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Boxing competition at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics will deliver gender parity with 60 men and 60 women from 79 National Olympic Committees selected to compete

The athlete selection process for the Boxing competition at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games has been completed with 120 athlete quota places allocated to 79 National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

The final allocation of 60 male and 60 female athletes achieves full gender parity and will maintain the sporting integrity of the competition while also delivering strong global representation across all five continents.

The allocation reflects the IOC Participation Principles for Dakar 2026 which are based on the six key pillars of:

  • Universality
  • Continental Representation
  • Athlete Performance
  • Gender Equality
  • NOC Representation
  • Event Representation

To support the principle of Athlete Performance, in March 2026 World Boxing organised the World Boxing Futures Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, for boxers under the age of 19. The competition featured more than 450 boxers and demonstrated that the boxers who are eligible for selection for Dakar 2026 possessed the competitive standard required for participation at the Youth Olympic Games.

World Boxing also provided travel and accommodation support to 23 participating National Federations and NOC’s, through Olympic Solidarity funding, to reduce financial barriers to participation and facilitate athlete access to the qualification process.

A full breakdown of NOCs per weight category can be seen below.

Table of Women’s Weight Categories for Dakar 2026:

W48W51W54W57W60
ALGBOTEGYALGALG
NGRKENMARSENEGY
MARALGBENTUNSEN
AZEBELROUHUNNED
GBRPOLGERFRALTU
MGLBHUJPNIRIKGZ
INDJORKAZKAZJPN
COLVENVENECUUZB
MEXPANCOLBRAUKR
TURAUSAUSTPEFIJ
THACANKORPOLCHN
ITANZLUZBUKRSVK

Table of Men’s Weight Categories for Dakar 2026

M50M55M60M65M70
SENTOGSEYALGEGY
NAMMRIMRIEGYGHA
SOMLBAGAMTJKLBA
IRLGEOTURARMLAT
ROUSWESVKESPCZE
INDLBNTHAJPNBAN
TKMKSACHNJORUAE
MEXDOMHONTTOMEX
COLCANGUAMEXECU
NZLAUSFIJISRSAM
IRQFINGEQMDAGBR
HKGTKMPURUZBKAZ

The YOG World Boxing Athlete Selection report is available HERE.

The YOG Dakar 2026 Participation Principles are HERE.

The YOG Dakar 2026 Boxing Quota Allocation Report is HERE.

World Boxing welcomes ASOIF Governance Review and is ready to make continued progress

World Boxing has welcomed the publication of the Sixth Review of International Federation Governance by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), as an important benchmark in the organisation’s ongoing growth.

The review awarded World Boxing a moderated score of 117 points. While this was slightly below our target score of 135, World Boxing believes the result provides a solid foundation for a young International Federation that was assessed at an early stage of its development. We are confident that the significant governance reforms and organisational improvements implemented since the review period will be reflected in future assessments.

As a relatively new organisation with provisional Olympic membership status, World Boxing is encouraged by its performance in several of the review’s most important governance areas, particularly transparency, democracy and integrity. These pillars are fundamental to building a credible and athlete-focused Olympic International Federation and reflect the values upon which World Boxing was established.

The ASOIF review is based on a detailed assessment of governance arrangements in place at the beginning of 2026. As such, it provides a snapshot of World Boxing in its start-up phase, when the organisation was operating with limited resources and before a number of significant organisational changes had been implemented. The review also noted that World Boxing’s self-assessment was closely aligned with the final outcome and recognised that a number of governance improvements had already been introduced after the assessment period, meaning they were not reflected in the final score.

Since the period covered by the review, World Boxing has a new leadership team with the election of Gennadiy Golovkin as President and Tom Dielen as Secretary General and is actively investing in the systems, policies and programmes required to support its long-term growth.

The review identified opportunities for improvement in areas including development programmes, sustainability initiatives and certain control mechanisms. World Boxing recognises the importance of these areas and has already begun work to strengthen its capabilities and governance framework. The organisation expects to make substantial progress as additional resources become available and new initiatives are implemented.

World Boxing President Gennadiy Golovkin said:

“We welcome the ASOIF Governance Review as an important tool for measuring progress and identifying areas where we can continue to improve. The review recognises the strong foundations that World Boxing has established in key governance areas, particularly transparency, democracy and integrity, which have been priorities since the organisation was created.

“As a new organisation, we have had to make careful decisions about where to focus our resources while building an organisation from the ground up. It is encouraging that the review acknowledges this context and recognises that our governance structures and policies compare favourably with many more established organisations.

“We are also pleased that ASOIF noted the fact that a number of improvements had already been implemented after the review period. This gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction and that future assessments will provide an even more complete reflection of the progress being made.

“This is a strong platform on which to build. With our new leadership team in place and additional resources becoming available, we are confident of making significant progress during 2026 and improving our performance in future reviews.”

World Boxing will work in the coming months with ASOIF and IOC to make sure that we are continuing the progress that was already made since the submission, aiming to comfortably achieve the target score of 135 in due course. 

World Boxing remains fully committed to the highest standards of governance and accountability and will continue to work closely with its member National Federations, athletes, stakeholders and partners to build a strong and sustainable future for Olympic-style boxing.

IOC approves Olympic Qualification System for boxing competition at LA28

The Qualification System developed by World Boxing for the boxing competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28) has been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Under the system (HERE) 248 places are available at LA28, which will be the first Olympic Games in history to feature gender parity in the boxing competition with seven weight classes each for men and women that will be contested by 124 males and 124 females. 

MEN’S WEIGHTSWOMEN’S WEIGHTS
WeightsPlacesWeightsPlaces
55kg1851kg18
60kg1854kg18
65kg2057kg20
70kg2060kg18
80kg1665kg18
90kg1670kg16
90kg+1675kg16
TOTAL124TOTAL124

The Qualification System is made up of three global competitions and five Continental events which means that boxers will have up to four opportunities to secure a place at LA28.

The qualification pathway and the boxing competition in Los Angeles will be overseen and managed by World Boxing which is the International Federation for boxing recognised by the IOC.

The first qualification event will be the 2027 World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan which will be followed by five Continental qualifiers in 2027 and 2028. The path to LA28 will conclude with two final world qualifiers in 2028.  The bidding process to host one of these events will begin imminently.

The Secretary General of World Boxing, Tom Dielen, said: “The boxing competition at LA28 will be a historic moment for the sport as it will be the first to feature gender parity and is a sign of the rapid progress that has been made since female boxing was first included in the Games at London 2012.

“World Boxing is committed to playing a positive role within the Olympic Movement and we look forward to working closely with the IOC and our National Federations and Continental Confederations to delivering a qualification pathway and a boxing competition in Los Angeles that will provide a fantastic platform for our male and female competitors to showcase their skills and pursue their dream of Olympic success.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023. It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.

Venues announced for Boxing competition at LA28

The venues have been announced for the boxing competition that will take place at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28).

The preliminary boxing rounds will be held in the Peacock Theater in Downton Los Angeles before the action moves to Arena in Downtown Los Angeles for the final stages.

248 boxers will compete in the boxing competition at LA28 which will be delivered and managed by World Boxing.  It will feature seven male and seven female weight classes, providing full parity between men and women for the first time at an Olympic Games. 

LA28 Chief Executive Officer, Reynold Hoover, said: “We’ve promised the world an incredible Olympic Games and today we’re proud to share the plan that will make it happen. Los Angeles is the epicenter of sports, culture and entertainment, and every venue selected for the 2028 Games will provide athletes and fans the best possible experience.

“The 2028 Olympic venue plan invites communities from across the region to celebrate the Games coming to their backyard with the most exciting sports staged at some of the world’s top-tier existing stadiums and arenas, famous beaches and purpose-built temporary structures.”

City of Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, said: “As the Host City for the 2028 Games, Los Angeles will become only the third city in the history of the world to host the Summer Olympics three times and these venues will showcase the best of our city to a global audience.

“This plan brings the Games to all corners of our city like never before — from the Sepulveda Basin to the iconic shores of Venice Beach, our world-famous neighborhoods as well as our hidden gems will be on full display for all to experience and enjoy. And as we come together to prepare, we will help small businesses, create local jobs and implement lasting environmental and transportation improvements that will leave a legacy in our city for generations to come.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement.  It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level. 

IOC confirms gender parity in boxing at LA28 with seven weight classes for both men and women 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed the weight classes and quota places for the boxing competition at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) where there will be full parity between men and women. 

It means there will be seven weight classes for both men and women, who will have an equal share of the 248 quota places in the boxing competition (124 each). 

Parity in the weight classes means an additional weight category has been added to the female competition from Paris 2024, where there were seven classes for men (125 quota places) and six for women (124 quota places). 

The news follows the decision by the 144th Session of the IOC (20 March 2025) to restore boxing to the sport programme for LA28, where the competition and qualification pathway will be managed by World Boxing after it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC in February 2025 as the International Federation (IF) for boxing within the Olympic Movement. 

The weight classes for boxing at LA28 will be:

Men’s Weight Categories Women’s Weight Categories
OverUnderOverUnder
Bantamweight 50kg 55kg Flyweight 48kg 51kg 
Lightweight 55kg 60kg Bantamweight 51kg 54kg 
Welterweight 60kg 65kg Featherweight 54kg 57kg 
Light-middleweight 65kg 70kg Lightweight 57kg 60kg 
Light-heavyweight 70kg 80kg Welterweight 60kg 65kg 
Heavyweight 80kg 90kg Light-middleweight 65kg 70kg 
Super-heavyweight 90kg Middleweight 
70kg75kg

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “Boxing is an inclusive sport that is open to everyone and we welcome the decision by the IOC to create parity in the number of weight classes for men and women at LA28. 

“This will be a significant milestone for the sport and is a sign of the enormous progress that has been made in women’s boxing since it was first included in the Olympic programme at London 2012, where there were three weight categories. World Boxing is committed to playing a positive role within the Olympic Movement and we look forward to working closely with the IOC to deliver a boxing competition that will be a fantastic platform for our male and female competitors and showcase all that is great about our sport.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. 

It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.