Nigeria’s contingent to the 2026 Youth Olympics, the first to be held on African continent, is targeting an improved performance than it placed 16 years ago in Singapore.

At Singapore 2010, which was the inaugural edition of the Youth Games, Nigeria recorded its best moment by winning a total of four medals, made up of two gold, one silver, and one bronze, to be ranked 29th overall in the world.

Eight years later in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nigeria also got a total of four medals, made up of one gold and three silver medals to finish in 48th position in the general medal table.

This time around, Nigeria is optimistic about surpassing its past performance as focus shifts to Dakar, Senegal.

Team Nigeria is expected to depart Abuja for Dakar on October 29, where it will compete in six sports: athletics, boxing, road cycling, swimming, table tennis and beach volleyball. The team has been in camp in Abuja since October 9.

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, which will run from October 31 to November 13 2026, is the first Olympic sporting event hosted on African soil, and will bring together young athletes from across the world.

The opening ceremony will be held on October 31 at the Diamniadio Olympic Stadium, the same day competitions begin in table tennis and beach volleyball.

Beach volleyball and table tennis will lead Nigeria’s campaign from October 31, with swimming beginning on November 1.

Boxing is scheduled for November 7 to 12, while athletics and road cycling will take place between November 8 and 10.

According to a team official, the camping in Abuja, coupled with the operational timeline designed by the National Sports Commission (NSC) to coordinate Team Nigeria’s preparations, will be an added advantage for the athletes when hostilities begin in Dakar.

“We have been in camp since October 9, and I must commend the NSC for giving adequate preparation for the athletes, which such an international sporting event demands. I am very optimistic this team will surpass the performance in 2020 and 2018,” the official told The Guardian yesterday, pleading anonymity.

The Guardian recalls that at the inaugural Youth Games in Singapore, Nigeria’s female sprinters swept the short distances, with Josephine Omaka winning the first-ever women’s YOG 100m gold medal, and Nkiruka Florence Nwakwe capturing the women’s 200m gold. And in 2018 in Argentina, Rosemary Chukwuma grabbed Nigeria’s sole gold in the girls’ 100m, while Alaba Akintola made history as the first Nigerian male athlete to win a medal in athletics at the Youth Olympic Games.