Dakar 2026: 2 Nigerian sprinters among 10 young stars tipped for LA28

Nigeria’s Rosemary Nwankwo and Gift Bright have emerged among 10 promising athletes to watch ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles following their impressive performances at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

The pair made history in Senegal by winning the women’s and men’s 100m titles respectively, putting them among a new generation of athletes whose performances could earn them places at LA28.

Nwankwo, 17, won the women’s 100m in 11.16 seconds, improving on her previous personal best by 0.18 seconds. Bright, 15, followed minutes later with victory in the men’s event in 10.28 seconds.
Nwankwo described her achievement as historic, noting the significance of an African athlete winning gold at the first Youth Olympic Games hosted on the continent.

“It means a lot to me,” she said. “This is the first Youth Olympics in Africa and an African person won it. It’s special; it’s history.”
Bright, meanwhile, recalled how his athletics journey began with barefoot races before he was discovered by a coach during a school relay competition.

“When I started, I was just barefoot,” he said. “Right now I did a 10.2, so that’s why I want to give God the glory.”
The Olympic movement has identified both Nigerians among 10 athletes whose performances in Dakar could signal their potential to compete at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The other eight athletes are:

The 16-year-old won the men’s street skateboarding gold with a total of 149.37 points. He produced the competition’s highest run score of 73.77 before adding a first-trick score of 75.60.
Jeang-Agliardi said competing at the Los Angeles Olympics would be a special opportunity, as he looks forward to performing in front of a home crowd.
“I’m really stoked that it’s going to be in LA,” he said. “The dream is honestly to have fun and reach the podium.”

Bassett arrived in Dakar with more than 40 victories and just one defeat. The 16-year-old strengthened her reputation by stopping both opponents in her first two bouts in the women’s 48kg category.
She said being regarded as a favourite was a compliment and an incentive to keep improving.
“I know I can do it, I’ve put in the hours, and winning is a way of showing all my hard work,” she said.

The 15-year-old claimed the women’s street skateboarding gold with 149.82 points, recovering from last place after her first two runs.
Her victory followed gold at the Asian Games in September, making it another major achievement in an impressive season.
Zhu has already set her sights on Los Angeles.
“My next goal is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” she said, adding that she hoped to showcase more difficult moves and win a medal.

The 16-year-old won silver in the men’s team competition and bronze in the individual all-around event in Dakar.
His performances add to his achievements at the Asian Junior Gymnastics Championships, where he won gold in the parallel bars and horizontal bars and shared the pommel horse title.
Japan has won the last four men’s Olympic all-around gymnastics titles, and Nishihara will hope to follow in the footsteps of established champions from his country.

Pan is already an established prospect in fencing despite her young age. She won bronze on her senior World Championships debut in 2025, aged 16, before claiming the 2026 junior and cadet world titles.
The women's sabre specialist is among the young athletes expected to make further progress towards the senior Olympic stage.

The 17-year-old won the women’s hammer throw gold in Dakar with a personal best of 71.27 metres.
Her older brother, Mykhaylo Kokhan, won bronze in the hammer throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics and previously claimed Youth Olympic gold in 2018.
Milaniia said following in her brother’s footsteps made the victory particularly meaningful.
“It is amazing. I am really happy to be here and win a gold medal, just like my brother did in 2018,” she said.

Dreyer won South Africa’s first gold medal of Dakar 2026 in the men’s coastal beach sprints, just 15 months after taking up rowing.
The 17-year-old’s victory is particularly significant because coastal beach sprints will make their Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
“It’s a bit overwhelming,” he said after the final. “Every now and then I still need to pinch myself and take in the moment.”

The 17-year-old won bronze in the women’s 52kg category, securing Moldova’s first medal of the Games.
Chiron defeated opponents from Cameroon and Niger before losing to Portugal’s Sofia Gaspar in the semi-finals. She recovered to beat Gambia’s Alima Jobe in the bronze-medal contest.
Her podium finish gives her a foundation to build on as she pursues a possible Olympic appearance in 2028.