A major milestone was registered for Indian sports in Dakar, Senegal, as martial arts athlete Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu secured a historic bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games 2026. Competing in the women's Changquan wushu discipline, she put together an overall performance that earned her third place on the podium. With this accomplishment, she becomes the first Indian athlete ever to claim a medal in wushu at the Youth Olympic Games, finishing the competition with a total score of 18.039 points.
Gunshu and Changquan Routines Determine the Podium
The decisive competition opened with the Gunshu routine, where Rajkumari registered an initial score of 8.723 points to sit fourth on the leaderboard. Facing ground to recover in the medal hunt, she delivered an exceptional display during her subsequent Changquan routine, earning 9.316 points from the scoring panel. Her combined tally of 18.039 points lifted her across the threshold into third position, securing the bronze medal for her nation.
First place in the discipline went to Sondos Sonbol of Egypt, who matched an identical mark of 9.330 in both her Gunshu and Changquan routines to win the gold medal with a total of 18.660 points. Valeria Franyelis Dudamel Alvarado of Venezuela concluded the event in second place with an aggregate score of 18.199 points, taking the silver medal.
Consistent Form Through Preliminary Stages
Rajkumari's medal run was established through composed execution during the preliminary stages as well. She advanced to the final phase from second place after compiling 17.982 points across her initial runs. That qualifying display saw her collect 8.876 points in Gunshu alongside 9.106 points in Changquan, finishing just behind Egypt's Sondos Sonbol, who topped the preliminaries with 18.386 points.
Prior to arriving in Dakar, Rajkumari had already demonstrated her caliber in major global competitions. She previously earned a bronze medal in the girls' youth Changquan category during the 2026 World Junior Wushu Championships hosted in Tianjin, China.
Manipur Continues Its Strong Martial Arts Tradition
Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu hails from the northeastern state of Manipur, a region renowned for producing premier martial arts talent for India. The state's prominence in wushu was evident at the Asian Games 2026, where Naorem Roshibina Devi, also from Manipur, was India's sole medal winner in the sport. Rajkumari's breakthrough in Dakar adds another landmark chapter to that athletic legacy.
