Ghana name 13-athlete team for historic Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has named a 13-athlete team to represent the country at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event to be staged on African soil.

The Games will take place in Senegal from 31 October to 13 November, with Ghana competing in eight sporting disciplines across the multi-sport event.

The country's contingent, made up of athletes aged between 13 and 17, qualified through their respective International Federations.

Ghana will be represented in athletics, badminton, boxing, beach volleyball, judo, swimming, table tennis and taekwondo.

Ghana's Dakar 2026 squad
Athletics

• Mary Coffie – Women's 400m hurdles
• Stephen Oduro Jnr – Men's 400m hurdles

Badminton

• Andy Amofa – Men's singles

Beach volleyball

• Justice Adusei Amoafo
• Daniel Lartey

Boxing

• Robert Amartey Tagoe – Men's 70kg

Judo

• Bernice Mawena Akakpo – Women's -63kg

Swimming

• Kelvin Abdallah – Men's 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle
• Mercedes Abdallah – Women's 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 50m backstroke
• Tamba Akin Boamah – Men's 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 50m backstroke
• Jada Yankey – Women's 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle

Table tennis

• Joanita Borteye – Women's singles

Taekwondo

• Jessica Mensah – Women's +63kg

Historic milestone for Africa
Dakar 2026 marks a significant moment in Olympic history, becoming the first Youth Olympic Games to be held in Africa.

The competition will be staged across three host zones in Senegal – Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly – bringing together young athletes from around the world for two weeks of competition.