Dhinidhi Desinghu has also become the first-ever Indian swimmer to win a medal at the Olympics, be it at the junior or the senior level
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President Droupadi Murmu confers the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar to Dhinidhi Desinghu for her excellence in the field of sports at a ceremony in New Delhi on Friday, December 26, 2025(Photo: IANS/Prem Nath Pandey)
An outstanding performance from 16-year-old swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu helped the Indian contingent confirm its first medal at the 2026 Youth Summer Olympics in the Senegalese capital of DakarDesinghu, who is India’s youngest ever Olympian, claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 100m freestyle event.
The Youth Olympics began on October 31, with India sending a 17-member contingent, comprising of 11 female and six male athletes who will compete across 11 disciplinesNotably, this is the smallest ever Indian contingent at the quadrennial youth event.
In the previous Buenos Aires edition, India had sent a total of 46 athletes, but due to a few implications, the contingent was cut short this time aroundThe number of medals are going to get low subsequently at Dakar but India did not have to wait much longer to open its account.
On day three, teenage sensation Dhinidhi Desinghu won India’s first-ever medal in swimming across both senior and youth-level Olympic gamesShe fell short of just a few seconds from grabbing a silver as she broke her own personal best timing of 56.56 seconds and set a new national record of 56.27 seconds to finish third on the podium.
Croatian swimmer Ana Bobanovic and New Zealand’s Alyssa Lawson won gold and silver with timings of 55.89 and 56.13 secondsDesinghu had previously set a national record at the Commonwealth swimming championships in Ahmedabad earlier this year.
Dhinidhi Desinghu’s background and past achievements
Dhinidhi Desinghu took up swimming at a very tender age of just eight after getting introduced to the water sport as a leisure activityDesinghu wasn’t fond of the sport initially and even admitted that she hated being in the water.
However, it all started to change after Desinghu won medals and made friends in the sport.
“My mom used to kind of push me inLater on, I grew to like the sportI grew to love itIn the beginning stages, it was so difficultI hated it, honestlyI didn’t want to get inI hated being in the waterI hated heightsI just hated swimmingAs time went by, I started winning, I started making friendsThat really helped me be the swimmer who I am today,” Desinghu told Olympics in a previous interaction.
Dhinidhi Desinghu broke into the scene after earning qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympic games, becoming the youngest Indian OlympianThough she finished 23rd in the women’s 200m event, Desinghu remains a promising prospect for India.
The 16-year-old established herself as a top swimmer after winning a staggering seven gold medals at the 2023 National Games in Goa.
