IOC launches global medal design contest for Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
Submissions opened on September 2 and will close on October 7, 2025, via Olympics.com and the winning design—produced in gold, silver and bronze—will appear on the YOG medals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched a global competition to design the front-facing side of the medals for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), scheduled for October 2026.
Submissions opened on September 2 and will close on October 7, 2025, via Olympics.com. The winning design—produced in gold, silver and bronze—will appear on the YOG medals.
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The reverse side, which traditionally carries national or event-specific symbols, will be created by the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee and will feature Senegalese cultural motifs alongside the YOG emblem.
Entries will be judged on creativity, originality, relevance to the Games, feasibility, and a written description. A toolkit with specifications and rules is available on the submission platform.
"The initiative is to design the oberse (front) of the medal only. Your design should reflect the spirit of the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games. The border of your design must be circular in shape with no elements cut out," the toolkit, seen by The Eastleigh Voice, reads in part.
"Your design must have a diameter of 80mm. The Olympic ring should appear somewhere in your design. The rings must always be produced in their pure form. They may not be altered, formed from other elements or cut. Include the following text on your design 'Dakar 2026' and 'Youth Olympic Games'; do not add any other text."
The jury includes IOC Dakar 2026 Coordination Commission Chair Humphrey Kayange, Gangwon 2024 medal design winner Dante Akira Uwai, IOC Young Leaders Peniamina Percival and Pragnya Mohan, IOC Young Reporters Yun Su Park and Yann Durand, and Dakar 2026 ambassador Elzo Jamdong. Their recommendations will be forwarded to the IOC Executive Board for approval.
The medal design competition was first introduced at the Singapore 2010 YOG. Since then, winners from countries such as Slovakia, Romania, Indonesia, New Zealand and Brazil have seen their designs awarded to athletes.
At Gangwon 2024, more than 3,000 entries from 120 countries were submitted before Brazilian artist Dante Akira Uwai was selected for his design, A Sparkling Future.
"A lot has changed since Gangwon," Uwai said.
"Many opportunities have opened up to me thanks to the medal design competition, especially for my career. But I think the most important change was actually internal. It was realising the transformative power of both art and sport."
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