What medal did Dhinidhi Desinghu win at the Youth Olympics?

She won bronze in the women's 100m freestyle at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Monday, 2 November 2026. The 16-year-old from Bengaluru finished in 56.27 seconds. Sportstar, India Today and SwimSwam called it India's first swimming medal at the Youth Olympics, and the first medal by an Indian swimmer at an Olympic event across the senior and youth Games.

What national record did Dhinidhi Desinghu break?

Her 56.27 is a new Indian national record in the women's 100m freestyle. She improved her own 56.57, set at the Indian Championships in Ahmedabad on 18 June 2026, Sportstar and India Today reported. She also holds the national record in the 200m freestyle. World Aquatics lists that mark at 2:01.81, from gold at the 2026 Asian Age Group Championships.

Who won gold and silver in the women's 100m freestyle?

Ana Bobanovic of Croatia won gold in 55.89 seconds. Alyssa Lawson of New Zealand won silver in 56.13 seconds. Desinghu was fifth at the 50m turn in 27.31 seconds and moved up to third in the second half.

Is this India's first swimming medal at the Youth Olympics?

Yes, according to Sportstar, India Today and SwimSwam: India's first ever swimming medal at the Youth Olympic Games. NDTV described a narrower first as well. It called her the first Indian female swimmer to win a Youth Olympics medal, and the first Indian female swimmer to reach a Youth Olympics final. NDTV noted that Srihari Nataraj (2018) and Tirthank Pegu (Dakar) are the other Indian swimmers to have made a Youth Olympics final.

What did Dhinidhi Desinghu say after the race?

She told Olympics.com: "There's no words to explain how great I feel right now." She said Chad Le Clos of South Africa had rooted for her during the heats and given her a pin she kept as a good luck charm. She added: "I'm hoping to keep the momentum going and win another medal in the competition."

Which other events is she swimming in Dakar?

Sportstar and Olympics.com list her in the women's 200m freestyle and the women's 200m individual medley, as well as the 100m freestyle. Coach Nihar Ameen told NDTV she has another shot at a medal in the 200m freestyle, and that he thought her chance there was better.

Dhinidhi Desinghu's Historic Youth Olympics Bronze, Explained

Indian swimming has a Youth Olympic medal. On Monday, 2 November 2026, at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, 16-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu of Bengaluru won bronze in the women's 100m freestyle in 56.27 seconds.

That time is a new Indian national record. She took down her own 56.57, set at the Indian Championships in Ahmedabad on 18 June 2026, Sportstar and India Today reported. Sportstar called 56.27 the best time by an Indian woman in the event.

Croatia's Ana Bobanovic won gold in 55.89 seconds. New Zealand's Alyssa Lawson won silver in 56.13. Desinghu was fifth at the 50m turn, in 27.31, and moved up to third over the second half of the race.

The 60-second version

Medal: Bronze, women's 100m freestyle, Dakar 2026, Monday 2 November.
Time: 56.27 seconds, a new Indian national record, inside her own 56.57 from Ahmedabad on 18 June 2026.
Podium: Ana Bobanovic (Croatia) 55.89, gold. Alyssa Lawson (New Zealand) 56.13, silver.
The race: Fifth at 50 metres (27.31), then third at the finish.
The first: India's first swimming medal at the Youth Olympic Games. Sportstar, India Today and SwimSwam called her the first Indian swimmer to medal at an Olympic event, across senior and youth Games.
Still entered: The women's 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, according to Sportstar and Olympics.com.

The final, and how she got there

Place	Swimmer	Time
Gold	Ana Bobanovic (Croatia)	55.89
Silver	Alyssa Lawson (New Zealand)	56.13
Bronze	Dhinidhi Desinghu (India)	56.27

The Olympic Information Service recorded her comments after the women's 100m freestyle final at Tour de l'Oeuf. The race reports agree on the shape of the swim. Sportstar, India Today and SwimSwam all put her fifth at halfway and third at the wall. The first 50 metres took 27.31 seconds. She moved from fifth to third over the closing 50 metres.

She had already had a fast morning. NDTV reported that she became the first Indian female swimmer to reach a Youth Olympics final, clocking 56.80 to win her heat and finish third-fastest overall. In those heats, Bobanovic was quickest in 56.22 and Lawson second in 56.53. All three were faster in the final than in the heats. The national record came in the final, not in the morning: 56.80 was outside her Ahmedabad mark of 56.57, and 56.27 went inside it.

NDTV also noted that she was not the first Indian swimmer into a Youth Olympics final. Srihari Nataraj, a two-time Olympian, made one in 2018, and Tirthank Pegu made one at these Games, in the men's butterfly. The first NDTV attached to Desinghu is specific: the first Indian woman to reach a final, and then the first Indian woman to win a Youth Olympics swimming medal.

What she said

After the race, Desinghu told Olympics.com: "There's no words to explain how great I feel right now."

She said she met Chad Le Clos of South Africa in the gallery while the heats were on. He told her he was rooting for her and gave her a pin. She kept it as a good luck charm. "It burned that fire in me so that I could win a medal," she said. "I'm hoping to keep the momentum going and win another medal in the competition."

She also said she had thought about a Youth Olympic medal for a long time. "To now have it is amazing."

The day before the final, the story she told was about a girl who did not want to be in the water. Speaking to Olympics.com ahead of the race, she said: "My mom used to kind of push me in. Later on, I grew to like the sport. I grew to love it." India Today reported the longer version of that interview, including her line that at the start she hated swimming and did not want to get in.

Her coach, Nihar Ameen, told NDTV: "She has been working really hard. This year, she has broken the national record three times. She is in form. She has another shot at a medal in the 200m freestyle event. In fact, she has a better chance of winning another medal there." He called her mentally very tough, noted that she had already competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and said the camp was hopeful of another medal in Dakar.

Why the result is a first

Three outlets used the wide frame. Sportstar said it is India's first ever swimming medal at the Youth Olympic Games, and that the 16-year-old is the first Indian swimmer to win a medal at an Olympic event, across the senior and youth editions. India Today and SwimSwam described the same first.

NDTV stayed with the women's line: the first Indian female swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympics, after becoming the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for a final earlier on Monday.

Both descriptions can sit together. Men had reached Youth Olympics swimming finals before. No Indian swimmer, in the accounts of Sportstar, India Today and SwimSwam, had stood on an Olympic swimming podium, senior or youth, before Monday.

Paris at 14, and the 200m record she already held

Desinghu was India's youngest member at the Paris 2024 Olympics, at 14. She swam the women's 200m freestyle and finished 23rd overall, India Today and Sportstar reported.

She told Olympics.com, in the interview India Today quoted, that Paris at 14 was "just for the experience of it", and that Dakar felt different: "Paris was just the experience as a kid. But now, I'm here to win."

The 100m record she broke in Dakar is not her only one. World Aquatics lists her as the Indian record holder in the women's 200m freestyle at 2:01.81, a gold swim in the girls' 15-16 race at the 12th Asian Age Group Championships in Thailand on 18 July 2026. That is the title the pre-Dakar notes refer to when they say she won 200m freestyle gold at the 2026 Asian Age Group Championships. The World Aquatics card still showed her previous 100m mark of 56.57 when checked on Monday night, which is the Ahmedabad time. The 56.27 is newer than that listing. It comes from the Dakar final, as reported by Sportstar, India Today, NDTV and SwimSwam.

Dakar, and the rest of India's small squad

Dakar 2026 runs from 31 October to 13 November 2026 in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, Sportstar reported. It is the first Olympic sporting event held in Africa. Sportstar said about 2,700 athletes are expected, across 25 sports and 153 medal events. Olympics.com says the Youth Olympic Games are designed for athletes aged 15 to 17. Sportstar described the event as primarily for that age group.

India sent 17 athletes, 11 women and six men, across 11 sports. Sportstar and Olympics.com both called it the country's smallest contingent at a Summer Youth Olympic Games.

The previews named a short list of other medal hopes alongside Desinghu: table tennis player Syndrela Das, badminton player Tanvi Patri (the Asian under-17 champion), boxers Gunjan (women's 48kg) and Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam (men's 50kg), beach wrestler Taniya, and wushu athlete Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu. Desinghu's own programme, on both the Sportstar and Olympics.com squad lists, is the 100m freestyle, the 200m freestyle and the 200m individual medley.

On the historical tally, the two previews do not print the same number. Sportstar put India's haul from the three previous Summer Youth Olympics at 23 medals: 3 gold, 16 silver and 4 bronze, credited to the country. Olympics.com's squad preview counted 27 medals across those editions, including four in mixed-NOC events. The gap matches that mixed-team distinction. This article reports both figures as published, rather than collapsing them into one.

What to watch next

The women's 200m freestyle. She is entered, she already holds the Indian record, and Nihar Ameen told NDTV he thought her chance of another medal was better in that race.
The women's 200m individual medley, the other event on her Dakar programme.
The rest of the 17-athlete squad through 13 November, including Syndrela Das, Tanvi Patri, Gunjan, Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam, Taniya and Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu.
How the 56.27 is recorded on the national-record lists. The time is what the race reports published from the final. Older record cards still showed 56.57 on Monday night.

A swimmer who went to Paris at 14 for the experience left Dakar with a medal and a national record in the same race. Her coach has already pointed at the 200m freestyle as the next chance.

Based on results and reports published by Sportstar, India Today, Olympics.com, NDTV Sports and SwimSwam on 2 November 2026, the Dakar 2026 squad previews from Olympics.com and Sportstar, and the World Aquatics athlete card for the 200m freestyle record. Earlier Youth Olympics medal counts are given as those previews published them.