Beach Wrestling shone on its Olympic debut in Dakar, drawing sell-out crowds and producing medalists from 16 nations to lay the foundation for its future.
DAKAR, Senegal (November 12) -- "I'm so happy to have made history for Senegal."
Senegal's first-ever gold medalist in Olympic history, Elisabeth DIATTA (SEN), exclaimed after winning the 55kg gold medal in Beach Wrestling at the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games on Saturday.
Saly Beach West, the competition venue for Beach Wrestling, witnessed the historic moment as the locals packed the stands. But the stands were not enough. The long queues outside the venue were a testimony to the craze for wrestling in Senegal, which considers wrestling its national sport, called “Laamb” in the local Wolof language.
Diatta’s gold medal was not the only historic moment for wrestling in Dakar. Beach Wrestling itself was making its debut at an International Olympic Committee event. It emerged as one of the best sports at the Youth Olympics, and had there been more seats to sell, there is every reason to believe they would have been full as well.
“It [Beach Wrestling] was probably the most successful sport here in Dakar, by attendance, by reactions on social networks, but also by distribution and diversity of countries winning medals,” said Nenad LALOVIC, United World Wrestling President and IOC Member.
The locals stood patiently behind the railings surrounding the competition venue. But they would lose their patience, happily, each time a Senegalese wrestler won. It did not matter whether their wrestlers won a bout or a medal, the fans would celebrate, medalists were carried on shoulders, strangers danced together and wrestlers from any country could join them.
"We have sold out stands, even extra, because we have a lot of more people watching wrestling than the stands accommodated, and not just watching, but going over the moon with happiness," said Pedro SILVA, Technical Delegate and UWW Beach Wrestling Commission President.
Senegal won three of the eight golds on offer. Beach Wrestling powerhouse Azerbaijan captured two. But it was the golds from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and China that showed the appeal and opportunities the sport brings to countries.
"I think we portrayed Beach Wrestling to the best it can be," Silva said. "We have shown the universality as countries from all continents have won medals. We have 16 countries winning medals out of 24 possible."
In 2019, Beach Wrestling was announced as part of the sports program of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, which were scheduled for 2022 but postponed to 2026.
The Games were an opportunity for wrestlers like Diatta and Maguette DIOP (SEN), the Youth Olympic champion in the men's 80kg category, to showcase their talent to the world. Diatta, born stateless after her parents fled the 1998 conflict in Guinea-Bissau, grew up between borders in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
It was only in 2014 that Senegal identified her talent and naturalized her as a citizen. She then competed across Europe and Africa before being selected to represent the country at the Youth Olympics, where she made history for Senegal.
Diop won gold a little later, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
"If they had kept Beach Wrestling at the start, we would have already had gold medals for Senegal," Diop said, as Senegal won two golds on November 7 through Beach Wrestling.
The hosts were not done yet.
On November 8, Ndeye DIATTA (SEN) added the third gold medal by winning the 45kg category. Ndeye was one of Senegal's flag bearers at the opening ceremony, and the youngster delivered a powerful message after her win.
“Here in Senegal, we are used to saying if a woman practises a sport like wrestling, you're going to look like a boy,” Ndeye Diatta said. “But that is not the case. If you do wrestling, it is to honour your country. I would like to say to girls today that if you listen to a bad piece of advice, you're going to do something bad. Today I won the gold medal and to the boys who were telling me, 'You look like a boy', I want to say, 'What have you done for Senegal?' They've done nothing.
"Today, I give them an answer. A girl is capable of doing everything she wants to do if she really wants. I sacrificed body and soul to bring back this medal."
It was as if the soul of Senegal rejoiced each time its wrestlers won medals.
The Laamb legend Modou LO attended the event along with five-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman Mijain LOPEZ (CUB). Lopez was one of the athlete role models for the Games and even attended a pre-Games wrestling camp.
Wilfredo RODRIGUEZ (VEN) at men's 60kg and Yolayni ROSADO (DOM) at women's 65kg were both part of the camp and later became gold medalists. Rosado later met Lopez, who fulfilled his promise of celebrating with the Dominican Republic wrestler.
“The host country is very happy with the result, but we saw Azerbaijan with two golds,” Lalovic said. “We also have a very unexpected result in the last category with the Dominican Republic winning a gold, which is fantastic and encouraging that this sport, this discipline is really developing everywhere.”
The success of Beach Wrestling has given it a new platform to build on as UWW aims to take it even further. Lalovic offered sound advice for the future.
"[We need] to continue to work seriously. That's all. The results will come by themselves," he said.
