“Senegal has chances of medals” October 20, 2026

International referee of Olympic wrestling, Beach wrestling and African wrestling, and member of the technical staff of the national Beach wrestling teams, Sitor Ndour believes that Senegal has a real chance of medals at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) “Dakar 2026”. In this interview given to Soleil des Sports, on Wednesday October 14, at the National Arena, he draws particular attention to Senegal’s world ranking at the end of the Beach Wrestling World Championships, held from August 24 to 28, 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Considering the results obtained at the World Championships, what ambitions can Senegal have for the “Dakar 2026” YOG?

Senegal ranked very well. Considering the level of the opponents faced, these results, obtained for a first participation in the World Championships, suggest a good harvest. Senegal therefore has chances of medals in Beach wrestling.

We are counting on all our wrestlers, because surprises are always possible, in one direction or the other. We have worked to bring all our athletes to the same level and maintain their progress. We also call on experienced wrestlers to supervise and motivate the younger ones.

Siny Sembène, who has won international titles beyond the African framework, can thus bring them a lot. We adopted the same approach for girls with Khady Diandi, ECOWAS champion, who participated in the grouping to support young athletes. This initiative has brought us a lot.

President Bira Sène has also promised to continue this dynamic by mobilizing seniors to support the youngest towards the very high level.

What improvements have you seen in these athletes, particularly technically and tactically?

We had a problem with our athletes being students, and some still are. When they returned home and started classes again, they did not have enough time to practice.

Thanks to the state and the federation, we were able to bring them together and keep them in preparation for a long time in order to achieve the expected results. They thus had time to improve their endurance and physical condition.

They also benefited from the support of a Georgian technician, Givi Dabidovi, in addition to the work of our two coaches, who are also experts. I am thinking particularly of Abdoulaye Thiam known as Laye Ndiombor, given his experience and what he represents in Africa, as well as Isabelle Sambou, who enjoys a great reputation in the world of wrestling.

With the support of this technician and our two coaches, we have seen remarkable improvement. Young people themselves will be able to testify to this. They have progressed a lot technically and tactically.

We noted tactical deficiencies during the World Championships and worked to correct them.

So the hope of medals in Beach wrestling is real?

It’s possible, of course. You have seen with what determination they work. All these efforts are aimed at a single objective: to ensure excellent representation of Senegal during these “Dakar 2026” Youth Olympic Games, but above all to collect medals.

By Abdoulaye DEMBÉLÉ