A three-member team will represent the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Inc. in two sports at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games at the end of this month. The global showcase of junior sports talent heads to Africa for just its fourth summer edition, October 31-November 13, and Saint Lucia will be hunting just its second medal ever at this level.
In aquatics, Noah Dorville will compete in men’s 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle at Dakar Tour de l’Oeuf, and Bolles School student-athlete Fayth Jeffrey will contest the women’s 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. Kadan Sam is the lone track and field athlete, and he will line up for the men’s 400m at Stade Iba Mar Diop.
The athletes will be supported by coaches Brian Charles and Makeba Alcide, for aquatics and athletics, respectively. Veteran administrator Lisa Burton will serve as team leader over the course of the two-week competition.
Julien Alfred took Saint Lucia’s sole medal ever at Buenos Aires, the third edition of the Games, where she captured silver in the women’s 100m. Since the inaugural Games, Singapore 2010, Saint Lucia has sent 14 athletes to this competition, taking part in boxing, aquatics, athletics, sailing, and beach volleyball.
The Dakar Games, however, feature a drastically downsized footprint compared to previous editions. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) capped the athlete quota at 2,700, roughly a 32% drop from the 4,000+ athletes who competed at Buenos Aires 2018, and athletes aged 15-17 are registered according to a strict event allocation by the IOC.
Senegal will be the first African nation to host an Olympic event. The former French colony was scheduled to host in 2022, but the COVID pandemic put paid to those plans. There have been two winter editions of the Youth Olympics since Buenos Aires 2018.
