History of Taniya Scripts! India’s first ever Youth Olympic beach wrestling medalist with silver in Dakar

NEW DELHI: India’s Taniya made a piece of history at the 2026 Youth Olympics in Senegal’s Dakar on Saturday, becoming the country’s first-ever beach match medalist at a global multi-sport event after winning silver in the women’s 75kg category.The Indian wrestler lost 1-2 to China’s Min Zhao in the gold medal match at the Saly Beach West venue but had plenty to celebrate after a remarkable campaign in the event making its debut at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics.Taniya’s silver also added to India’s growing medal tally at the ongoing Games, taking the country’s medal tally to seven – three silver and four bronze.The Indian grappler entered the final after an impressive run through the competition, underlining her credit against a strong international field. However, she ran into a formidable opponent in Zhao, who went on to win the 2025 World Under-17 Wrestling Championship in the women’s 69kg freestyle category.In the end, the Chinese wrestler prevailed in the final as well, leaving Taniya with a historic silver medal.

Taniya storms into the finals undefeated

Taniya’s journey to the podium was built on an impressive unbeaten run in the group stage where she won all three of her matches in Group B.She opened her campaign with a 3-1 victory over Germany’s Mia Bauer before recording a convincing 3-0 win against Greece’s Vasiliki Karavana. Both rivals won medals at the U17 European Beach Wrestling Championships this year.The Indian continued her dominant run with a 4-1 victory over Estonia’s Merila Vaester in her final group encounter to book her place in the semi-finals.Taniya then produced another impressive performance in the knockout stages, beating Matilda Hruby of the United States 3-1 to book her place in the gold medal match.Hrubý arrived in Dakar as one of the strong contenders, having won the women’s 75kg title at the 2026 U17 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Azerbaijan after winning all five bouts in the fall.Taniya’s ability to overcome such a formidable opponent further underscored the significance of her achievement.The Indian wrestler has also brought valuable international experience to the competition, having won a bronze in the women’s 69kg freestyle category at the 2026 World Under-17 Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan this year and a silver at the Asian Under-17 Championships earlier this year.

India’s medal tally in Dakar has increased to seven

Taniya’s silver was India’s seventh medal at the Dakar Youth Olympics, with the contingent securing three silver and four bronze medals so far.Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada earlier won silver in women’s 63kg judo, while Tanvi Patri finished second in women’s badminton.India’s bronze medal winners include swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, who secured two medals in the women’s 100m and 200m freestyle, and Tirthank Pegu, who finished third in the men’s 200m butterfly.Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu also contributed to the tally with a bronze in women’s changquan combined wushu.