Tirthank Pegu wins Youth Olympics bronze, first for an Indian male swimmer

Assam swimmer Tirthank Pegu has won bronze in the men's 200m butterfly at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, becoming the first Indian male swimmer to take a medal at the Youth Olympics.

The 17-year-old from Jorhat touched the wall in 2:01.25 in Friday's final to finish third. Egypt's Zain Ali won gold in 1:57.88 and Vietnam's Duong Van Hoang Quy took silver in 2:00.32. Pegu had gone into the final as the fastest qualifier from the heats, in 2:05.30.

Second YOG medal for Assam

The bronze makes Pegu only the second athlete from Assam to win a Youth Olympic Games medal. Boxer Shiva Thapa was the first, with a silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010.

It also made up for a near miss earlier in the meet. In the 100m butterfly final Pegu finished fourth in 54.98 seconds, just 0.27 seconds off the podium.

"This is for him"

Pegu dedicated the medal to his father, Kunal Pegu, who died of a heart attack in Chennai in 2024 while watching his son compete at the Khelo India Youth Games.

"My father was my motivation to swim. I love him, this is for him too," he said after the race, according to Sportstar. He also dedicated the medal to his coach Sandeep Sejwal, who is retiring from coaching, and said he had pushed through the pain over the final metres. He admitted it was not his personal best.

Pegu trains under Sejwal at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Ballari, Karnataka, after earlier training at the Sports Authority of India centre in Delhi. He started swimming at around five at the Jorhat Swimming Society pool. He won silver in the 200m butterfly at the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain and set an under-18 national record of 2:03.22 at the Junior National Aquatic Championships in Ahmedabad in 2025.

Eyes on LA 2028

Pegu said his next target is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "I want to represent India in LA 2028 and also qualify for the finals to become the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the finals in the Olympics," he said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma congratulated him on X, calling it a moment of immense pride for Assam and saying the state's son had made history.

Dhinidhi Desinghu also won bronze for India in the pool in Dakar, in what has been a historic Youth Olympics for Indian swimming.