Shooting, hockey and weightlifting sit in Dakar 2026’s engagement programme, not medals

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games run from 31 October to 13 November 2026. The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) describes them as the first Youth Olympic Games held in Africa. Its report also describes the Games as an elite event for athletes aged 15 to 18 from around the world.

Shooting, hockey and weightlifting are among ten sports that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) placed in an engagement programme rather than the medal programme. A Deccan Herald report frames the change as a blow to India, where these three sports produced a large share of medals at the 2018 Games. The sources read for this article agree on the placement but not on the timing, and they give only a partial account of why the change was made.

Which Sports Moved to the Engagement Programme

Francs Jeux reports that the Dakar medal programme has 25 sports, each represented by a single discipline. Its list includes athletics, swimming, judo, sailing and wushu. A further ten sports sit in the engagement programme: canoeing, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis and weightlifting.

Francs Jeux calls the second group the mobilisation programme. The ISSF and NOCZ pages use the term engagement programme. NOCZ says these sports are an official part of the Games and will be promoted through on-site interactive activities and digital platforms.

According to Francs Jeux, the engagement sports are not part of the competition. The same report says the IOC kept official participation for 35 international federations. Deccan Herald calls the same ten sports “non-medal sports”, naming shooting, weightlifting and hockey.

NOCZ also gives a count of 25 competition sports but names only 23. Its list leaves out archery and badminton, which Francs Jeux includes. This article uses the Francs Jeux list.

Event Count
Francs Jeux reports 151 events for Dakar 2026, compared with 241 at Buenos Aires 2018. It says that, after Paris 2024, Dakar 2026 will display perfect gender equality.

When the Decisions Were Made

The ISSF report, dated June 13, 2024, says the IOC Executive Board met in Lausanne on the day of the announcement and confirmed shooting for the engagement programme. The federation described the selection as an honour.

Francs Jeux and NOCZ, both dated December 4, 2024, report that the Executive Board approved the Dakar sports programme, including event and athlete quotas. Neither gives the date of the meeting. Francs Jeux says it took place “this week” in Lausanne.

The Deccan Herald article, dated December 5, 2024, names shooting, weightlifting and hockey among the ten non-medal sports. The pages read do not show whether the June and December steps were separate changes or parts of one process.

The Reasons Given: Local Context and Gender Parity

The ISSF report says the IOC stressed that the Games should fit the local, regional and continental context. It adds that the sport and engagement programmes for each edition are built with the organising committee and the international federations. NOCZ similarly describes the Games as an inclusive and sustainable event with a tailored approach that reflects the local context.

Francs Jeux links the Dakar programme to gender parity. It says that, after Paris 2024, Dakar 2026 will display perfect gender equality in the number of athletes and in the number of disciplines and events. Its figures list 151 events, split into 72 for men, 72 for women and seven mixed. Buenos Aires 2018 had 241 events.

NOCZ reports the same 151 events and says that, for the first time, the Games will have full gender equality across all of them. It gives equal athlete quotas of 1,350 for boys and for girls. It also cites IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell, who describes Dakar 2026 as a significant milestone and links the disciplines to the Games’ commitment to gender equality.

None of the pages read gives cost or logistics as the reason for placing these sports in the engagement programme. The Deccan Herald article calls the change a blow to India, but the part of the article that could be read does not include reasons from the IOC or responses from Indian officials.

Seven of India’s 13 medals at Buenos Aires 2018 came from the three sports now outside the Dakar medal programme.

What the Change Means for India

Wikipedia’s page on India at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics lists 13 medals for India at Buenos Aires: three gold, nine silver and one bronze, ranking 17th.

Shooting produced four of those medals, with two gold and two silver. Manu Bhaker won gold in the girls’ 10 metre air pistol and Saurabh Chaudhary in the boys’ 10 metre air pistol. Tushar Mane took silver in the boys’ 10 metre air rifle and Mehuli Ghosh in the girls’ version. Hockey added two silvers, one each for the boys’ and girls’ teams. Weightlifting produced one gold, won by Jeremy Lalrinnunga in the boys’ 62 kg.

Seven of India’s 13 medals at Buenos Aires 2018 came from the three sports now outside the Dakar medal programme.

The same page also lists mixed-team silver medals, including silvers for Manu Bhaker in the mixed 10 metre air pistol and Tababi Devi in the mixed team event. The page says these mixed-NOC medals are not counted towards the Individual NOC Medal tally, so the 13 medals above exclude them.

The reports read do not show how Indian federations plan to respond to the change.

What the First Games in Africa Mean for Senegal and the Movement

The ISSF report describes Dakar 2026 as the first Youth Olympic Games held in Africa. NOCZ says the Games are spread across Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, and that they will maximise existing infrastructure for sustainability. Francs Jeux says the total number of accredited people is capped at 2,700.

ISSF president Luciano Rossi called the shooting selection an honour. The federation said the selection reflects its work to rebuild ties with the IOC, and linked the move to attracting young people. ISSF plans to use Youth Olympic materials and toolkits to reach young shooters around the world, and says it aims to increase shooting’s impact in Africa by engaging local youth.

NOCZ calls Dakar 2026 a transformative event and says it aims to serve as a blueprint for future Youth Olympic hosts. It also reports that Zambia competed in athletics, equestrian and hockey at Buenos Aires 2018, and says it aims to expand its representation at Dakar 2026. Hockey is one of the ten engagement sports at Dakar.

The pages read do not report Senegal’s spending or legacy plans. For Senegal, the sources establish only that the Games are being hosted there as the first Youth Olympic Games on the continent. For the wider movement, the reports show a programme with equal event numbers for men and women, and a set of non-medal sports offered alongside the medal events.

Photo: Jeff Attaway · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons