Iran extends Youth Olympics delegation to 29 athletes
Iran will send a 29-strong delegation of athletes competing in 14 sports to the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, with no further quotas expected to be added to the country’s roster ahead of the multi-sport event, which will open on Oct. 31 in the Senegalese capital.
Iranian chief de mission Hamid Azizi said the 29 athletes include two recently allocated quotas in judo and fencing.
Iran’s delegation will feature two team events and 12 individual sports.
The girls’ futsal team will make up the largest contingent, with 10 athletes, while two athletes will represent Iran in the boys’ beach volleyball competition.
Beach wrestling will have four Iranian competitors, while taekwondo will feature two participants – one girl and one boy. Badminton will also have two representatives, with one athlete of each gender.
Iran’s remaining athletes will compete in swimming, wushu taolu, triathlon, table tennis, boxing, road cycling, athletics, judo and fencing. The individual quota breakdown is as follows: one boy in swimming, one boy in wushu taolu, one boy in triathlon, one boy in table tennis, one girl in boxing, one boy in road cycling, one boy in athletics, one boy in judo and one girl in fencing.
The Dakar Youth Olympic Games will mark Iran’s fourth participation in as many editions since the event was first introduced at Singapore 2010, where the country secured two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal.
At Nanjing 2014, Iran collected three gold and three bronze medals, before achieving its best performance to date with seven gold, three silver, and four bronze medals at Buenos Aires 2018.