The Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 are under method in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, combining some 2,700 young professional athletes throughout 25 sports for the very first Olympic occasion ever hung on the African continent.
As a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner, Samsung Electronics is supporting the Games with Galaxy innovation– from Victory Selfie and broadcast combinations to the Samsung Open Station, an experience area inside the Youth Olympic Village. Having actually supported the Youth Olympic Games given that the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010, Samsung is going beyond innovation at Dakar 2026 to support young professional athletes’ individual development.
For the professional athletes contending at Dakar 2026, reaching the Olympic phase is the outcome of years of commitment. Some of the most long lasting lessons come from what occurs along the method– conquering obstacles, developing durability, finding what matters beyond outcomes.
That is why, on November 3, Samsung hosted “Beyond the Medal: Your Journey Shapes What Comes Next,” a mentoring session at the Samsung Open Station inside the Youth Olympic Village. By generating professional athletes who have actually strolled the Olympic course before them, the session intended to influence pride and inspiration in the next generation– and to share the spirit of openness at the heart of Samsung’s Olympic collaboration.
2 IOC Athlete Role Models 1 — Senegalese canoe slalom Olympian Jean-Pierre Bourhis (31) and Ugandan swimmer Jamila Lunkuse(29)– signed up with New Zealand tennis bronze medalist Marcus Daniell (36 )for a discussion with young professional athletes.
Moderated by Lefa Makgato, CSR Manager at Samsung Electronics Africa, the session brought the 3 coaches together with 28 young professional athletes from 12 nations to share the journeys that formed them– and provide a guide for checking out where life beyond sport may lead.
Break the ice: Finding Your Own Path
Makgato opened by asking each coach where their Olympic journey started.
For Bourhis, who represented Senegal at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is included in Samsung’s “Voices of Galaxy: Paddling for the Future,” the dream took shape in 2008, when Togo’s Benjamin Boukpeti won a bronze medal in kayaking at Beijing 2008.
“As a kid, I recognized an African paddler might reach the podium,” he stated. “Rio 2016 revealed me the method might be opened. Now my task is to keep it open for others.”
Lunkuse, who made her Olympic Games launching at 15, remembered that swimming started with relationship instead of aspiration.”I wasn’t thinking of medals or the Olympics,”she stated.”I simply took pleasure in belonging to something with my good friends, which’s what developed my love for the sport. ”
Daniell, who ended New Zealand’s 109-year wait on an Olympic tennis medal at Tokyo 2020, indicated picking tennis over football at 14. “Because I ‘d quit a sport I enjoyed, I understood I needed to totally dedicate,” he stated.
Break Your Boundaries: Learning Through Challenges
The discussion then turned to the most significant obstacles each coach dealt with.
With nearly no whitewater centers in Senegal, Bourhis needed to develop his training base in France– while holding down a full-time task as an engineer in electrical lorry repair work. “As an engineer, I see a limitation as an issue to resolve, not a wall,” he stated. “I train before work, throughout lunch, or late in the evening. What keeps me going is function.”
Lunkuse spoke honestly about the stress and anxiety she dealt with ahead of Rio 2016. “I ended up being so concentrated on certifying times that I no longer enjoyed it,” she stated. “It was just when I required time away that I might see what I was going through and what aid I required– which’s what got me to Rio 2016.”
Daniell explained a knee injury in 2022 that kept him out for almost 2 years.” What got me through was having something larger than tennis,” he stated. “Everyone stops working. Those who last are the ones who discover to select themselves up when they fall.”
Beyond the Game: Turning Experience Into Opportunity
Makgato asked how the lessons of sport brought into what came next.
Through not-for-profit work, Bourhis is developing a canoeing environment in Senegal. “We’re constructing it step by action– and constructing canoes in your area makes the sport more budget-friendly, develops regional tasks, and leaves a long lasting tradition,” he stated. “I wish to provide the next generation the tools to develop their own method.”
Lunkuse, a youth coach and World Aquatics Athletes’ Committee member, advises young professional athletes to look beyond outcomes. “Results do not specify your worth,” she stated.
Daniell– an IOC Athletes’ Commission member and creator of High Impact Athletes, a not-for-profit linking professional athletes with charities– encouraged: “Look for an objective beyond individual success. For me, that was what kept pressing me forward.”
Opening Possibilities for the Next Generation
Makgato closed the session with a story of her own. Maturing in a little area in South Africa, she initially experienced a computer system at 18– at one of Samsung’s Solar Powered Internet Schools. She later on signed up with Samsung Electronics Africa, where she now leads CSR programs throughout the continent, consisting of Solve for Tomorrow, providing the next generation the sort of chance she as soon as got. Having actually seen direct how a single chance can alter a life, she had great factor to stand before the young professional athletes that day.
“I understand direct how access to innovation and education opens doors you might never ever have actually envisioned. Where you are today does not identify where you’re going,” she stated. “We wished to motivate young professional athletes to remain open up to originalities and acknowledge the prospective they need to form their own futures.”
- IOC Athlete Role Models (ARMs) have actually belonged to the Youth Olympic Games considering that Singapore 2010. Chosen by International Federations for each sport, these skilled Olympians remain on website to talk with young professional athletes and lead workshops on subjects such as profession management and injury avoidance, assisting form the professional athletes of tomorrow. ↩
Discover more from PMN S.P.O.R.T.S - A PRIME MEDIA NETWORK BRAND
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
