Senegal's teenage wrestlers turn tradition into gold at Dakar Youth Olympics

Senegal's young wrestlers have won gold at the Dakar Youth Olympics by adapting the skills of their traditional sport to beach wrestling. The country's first Youth Olympic gold came through 16-year-old Elisabeth Diatta.

Diatta is from Casamance in southern Senegal. Football was her sport, not wrestling. Yet on Saturday she was on the sand at Saly beach, representing Senegal in beach wrestling at Dakar's Youth Olympics.

In the 55kg final, Diatta beat Japan's Reisa Kojima 5-1 to win gold. It was Senegal's first Youth Olympic gold.

Diatta's path into wrestling was unusual. When her older sister Jeannine was injured and could not enter a wrestling tournament at a sports camp, Diatta took her place. She won her first bout, and the footballer kept wrestling.

Adults around her said wrestling would make her less feminine; Diatta explained that she persisted in the sport out of teenage defiance against that.

Her coach Isabelle Sambou is herself a two-time Olympian. Sambou said, 'I wanted to win gold for Senegal when I was an athlete. Today, I have my reward.'

Later the same day, another Senegalese teenager won gold. Sixteen-year-old Maguette Diop beat Azerbaijan's Nihad Suleymanli 4-0 in the boys' 80kg final. Suleymanli is a two-time under-17 world champion.

At one point in the final the referee awarded Suleymanli three points and the gold appeared to be slipping away. Diop's coaches urged a challenge and the replay reversed the decision, giving those points to Diop. On 27 August in Baku, Diop had lost to Iran's Reza Jalilian in the semifinals of the under-17 world championships.

Three months in an intense training camp helped Senegal's young wrestlers adapt to beach wrestling. In traditional Senegalese wrestling, a wrestler wins by bringing an opponent to the ground — onto the back, buttocks or knees, or onto all fours; there is no points system and one decisive fall can end the contest.

In beach wrestling, forcing an opponent outside the circle earns one point, as does a takedown, while a throw onto the back earns three points and ends the contest. Bouts last up to three minutes; the first to reach at least three points wins.

Traditional Senegalese wrestling, known as Laamb, carries the pride of villages and neighbourhoods. Wrestlers seek spiritual protection through prayers, rituals and amulets, all to the rhythm of sabar drums and ceremonial dances. In Casamance, where Diatta comes from, women have long wrestled too, even as men dominate the professional arenas.

The following day, Ndeye Khady Anna Diatta added a third Senegalese gold in the 45kg category. She said, 'I hope this experience will give girls courage and determination.'

By Thursday, Senegal stood sixth in the medal table — three of their five golds won in wrestling on the sand. The Youth Olympic Games run from 31 October to 13 November in Dakar and the nearby towns of Saly and Diamniadio. For Africa, it is the first Olympic sporting event it has hosted.