Dhinidhi Desinghu Makes History With Second Medal At Youth Olympics

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

Dhinidhi Desinghu's Historic Achievement

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya hailed swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu for securing her second medal at the Youth Olympics Games in 2026 in Dakar on Friday. Desinghu made history at the Dakar Youth Olympics 2026 on Friday, becoming the second Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the competition with a bronze medal in the women's 200 m freestyle swimming event. She clocked a time of 2:02.28 to finish behind the People's Republic of China's Chang Mohan (1:59.59) and Croatia's Ana Bobanović (2:01.17) in the final after topping the heats with 2:04.51.

Mandaviya posted on X, "Heartiest congratulations to Dhinidhi Desinghu on securing her second medal at the Youth Olympic Games 2026 with a Bronze in the Women's 200m Freestyle!" Heartiest congratulations to Dhinidhi Desinghu on securing her second medal at the Youth Olympic Games 2026 with a Bronze in the Women's 200m Freestyle! - Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) November 7, 2026

Swimming Successes at Dakar 2026

On Monday, she won the country's first-ever swimming medal at the Youth Olympic Games 2026 with a bronze in the women's 100m freestyle. The Bengaluru swimmer clocked a national record of 56.27 seconds in the final on Monday to secure the bronze medal, finishing behind Croatia's Ana Bobanović, who claimed gold in 55.89 seconds, and New Zealand's Alyssa Lawson, who took silver in 56.13 seconds, as per Olympics.

In swimming, India's Tirthank Pegu finished with a bronze medal in the men's 200 m butterfly event with a time of 2:01.25 in the final, becoming the first Indian male swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. He had made it to the finals by finishing first in the heats with a time of 2:05.30. The gold medal went to Egypt's Zain Ali with a time of 1:57.88, and silver was bagged by Vietnam's Duong Van Hoang Quy with a time of 2:00.32.

Broader Indian Performance in Senegal

Earlier, Tanvi Patri became the first Indian women's singles badminton player to clinch a Youth Olympics silver medal after she went down against reigning world junior champion Zhang Yi Xin in a nail-biting summit clash in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday.

Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu clinched a historic bronze medal in the women's changquan combined wushu event at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday. Rajkumari secured a combined score of 18.039, scoring 8.723 in gunshu and 9.316 in changquan to finish third on the podium and secure India's first-ever wushu medal, according to Olympics.

Khushbu Rajakbai Darjada clinched the silver medal in the women's -63kg judo event at the event in Senegal after losing the final against Germany's Jolina Reinhold. It was Khushbu's second medal at the international level this year. Earlier this year, she won bronze (-63kg) at the Asian Cadet Championships held in Amman, Jordan, according to a press release.

Hailing from Somnath in the Gujarat region, Khushbu on Monday became the second Indian judo player to have won a medal at the Youth Olympic Games. Manipur's Tababi Devi was the first Indian judo player to win a medal, a silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. Now, India's medal tally at the Youth Olympics stands at six, with two silver medals and four bronze medals, including three of these medals in swimming. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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