Egypt make historic artistic gymnastics team final at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics

Egypt’s men’s artistic gymnastics team have reached the team event final at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games for the first time in the sport’s history, after finishing seventh in the qualifying competition.

The Youth Olympics are being held in Dakar from 30 October to 13 November. Egypt’s delegation includes 45 athletes competing across 19 sports, although some disciplines in which the country traditionally performs strongly are absent from its programme.

Abdullah Shaarawy, Mazen El Sayed and Mohamed Abdel Kawi make up Egypt’s artistic gymnastics team, which is coached by Mostafa Omar.

Shaarawy also qualified for the all-around individual final, adding a further opportunity for Egypt in the competition.

The country’s 45 athletes are competing in archery, artistic gymnastics, athletics, badminton, 3×3 basketball, beach wrestling, beach volleyball, boxing, beach rowing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, judo, swimming, triathlon, sailing, table tennis, taekwondo and wushu kung fu.

Egypt have won four medals so far, with Zain Hesham responsible for three of the delegation’s gold medals. Those results have moved Egypt up to fourth in the medal table, behind China, Japan and Russia.

Sondos Sanbal secured Egypt’s first gold medal in wushu kung fu after winning the women’s Gunshu event with a score of 9.330 points. She became the first female athlete in the history of the sport to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

Ali El-Ramly completed Egypt’s medal haul with bronze in the men’s 81kg judo competition. His route to the podium included victory over an athlete from the United Arab Emirates, defeat by Iran’s champion and a decisive win against Cyprus.