Gunjan and L. Ambekar Meetei Win India’s First-Ever Boxing Gold Medals at Youth Olympics 2026

Indian boxing celebrated a landmark moment at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, on 12th November, 2026, Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei defeated Kristian Jubani (Ireland) in the men’s 50kg final and Gunjan defeated Bouthaina Bensalah (Algeria) in the women’s 48kg final. This meant both boxers won gold medals in their respective finals, giving India a 100% gold medal success rate at the games.

Gold Medalists

Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei – 50kg Male

• After a close final, Ambekar Meetei won 3-2 against Kristian Jubani (Ireland). This makes him the first Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

Gunjan – 48kg Female

• After defeating Bouthaina Bensalah (Algeria) with a score of 5-0, Gunjan became the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the Youth Olympic Games.
• Both boxers ended their boxing journey with a gold medal. This means India’s two man boxing team have 100% success rate.

India’s Previous boxing medals at the Youth Olympic Games

Prior to the Dakar 2026 edition, India had only won two boxing medals at the Youth Olympic Games. Both of these were at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010.

Name	Weight	Medal
Shiva Thapa	Male 54kg	Silver
Vikas Krishan	Male 60kg	Bronze

These were India’s best performance to date in boxing at the Youth Olympic Games. Winning two gold medals at Dakar was India’s first gold medals in boxing at the games.

India’s Performance at the Youth Olympic Games

India had an impressive performance at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina winning 13 medals overall.

India won two gold, three silver and five bronze medals at the games thanks to the boxing success. This was India’s second highest medal total at the Summer Youth Olympic Games.

General Information About the Youth Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games (YOG): A multi-sport event held internationally by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

• First Summer Youth Olympic Games: Held in Singapore in 2010.
• Second Edition: Nanjing, China in 2014.
• Third Edition: Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2018.
• Fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games: Dakar 2026. First time being held in Africa.
• Organised by: International Olympic Committee (IOC).