Senegalese wins 1st Olympic gold at Dakar

Senegal on Saturday won its first ever gold medal at an Olympic event in the country’s national sport, beach wrestling.

Elisabeth Diatta, 16, beat Japan’s Reisa Kojima at the Youth Olympic Games with a spectacular takedown in the final of the women’s 55kg division in front of home fans.

“I’m so happy to have made history for Senegal,” Diatta said.

Senegal’s Elisabeth Diatta, right, and Japan’s Reisa Kojima compete in the women’s 55kg beach wrestling gold medal match at the Youth Olympic Games in Saly, Senegal, on Saturday.

Photo: AFP

Beach wrestling made its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games, which are taking place in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and nearby towns Diamniadio and Saly. Athletes are aged 14 to 17.

Wrestling is practiced on the many beaches of the coastal West African nation and wrestlers are celebrated like rock stars. The local variation of wrestling, called laamb in Wolof, one of the national languages, has been part of village life for centuries.

Senegalese wrestle for entertainment or to celebrate special occasions. The professional version of the sport draws thousands to stadiums and can be a catapult to wealth and fame.

Senegal’s Maguette Diop, left, and Ukraine’s Dmytro Holovenko compete in the men’s 80kg beach wrestling gold medal match at the Youth Olympics in Saly, Senegal, on Saturday.

Photo: AP

In the beach town of Saly, where the competition took place, Senegal’s wrestlers brought some of laamb’s traditions to the Olympic stage — dancing after every victory — while Senegalese fans cheered on their team to the sound of traditional sabar drums.

Senegalese wrestling is male-dominated, but in the southern Casamance region, home to the Jola ethnic group, women traditionally wrestle alongside men.

Diatta, who is from Casamance, said after her gold medal win that she wants “Senegalese girls to believe in themselves, and keep wrestling, because wrestling is not just for men.”

That Senegal’s first ever gold medal was won by a female wrestler was a potent symbol, said her coach Isabelle Sambu, who is a two-time Olympian and nine-time African wrestling champion.

“We have opened the door for everyone, for all the disciplines that remain, that have not yet competed,” Sambu said. “May the medals fall for Senegal.”

Just an hour after Diatta’s triumph, compatriot Maguette Diop, also 16, secured Senegal’s second wrestling gold after defeating Azerbaijan’s Nihad Suleymanli in the men’s 80-kilogram final.