Youth Olympics: Shourya Ambure wins historic medal in women's 100m hurdles

India's Shourya Ambure won bronze in the women's 100m hurdles at the Youth Olympics in Dakar, becoming the first Indian woman to win an athletics medal at the Games. The 17-year-old clocked a personal best of 13.59 seconds in the final.Shourya Ambure wins bronze in the women's 100m hurdles at the Youth Olympics. (Photo: Instagram)New Delhi,Nov 9, 2026 13:06 ISTIndia's Shourya Ambure created history at the Youth Olympic Games 2026 in Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday, winning bronze in the women's 100m hurdles to become the first Indian woman to claim an athletics medal at the junior multi-sport event.The 17-year-old from Maharashtra clocked a personal best of 13.59 seconds to finish third in the nine-athlete final at the Complexe Iba Mar Diop. China's Zhang Keyi won gold in a wind-assisted 13.17 seconds, while France's Anna Peeters took silver with a timing of 13.57 seconds.India's first athletics medal at #Dakar2026! Shourya Avinash Ambure sprinted to bronze in the women's hurdles final with a personal best of 13.59s! #YouthOlympics #Olympics #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper https://t.co/hrGNoGYiJv— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) November 8, 2026Ambure bettered her personal best twice on the same day. She had clocked 13.77 seconds in the second semi-final to finish second behind Peeters and qualify for the final. She then went faster in the medal race to secure India's first athletics medal at the Dakar Games.The bronze was also India's fifth athletics medal in the history of the Youth Olympics. Durgesh Kumar Pal and Arjun Kumar had won silver medals in the boys' 400m hurdles and discus throw respectively at Singapore 2010. At Buenos Aires 2018, Suraj Panwar won silver in the boys' 5km race walk, while Praveen Chithravel claimed bronze in the boys' triple jump. Ambure's latest achievement adds to a strong run at the junior level. She has now won medals at the Asian U18 Athletics Championships, Asian Youth Games and Youth Olympic Games in the space of 18 months. She had previously claimed bronze in the women's 100m hurdles at the Asian U18 Championships in Dammam in 2025, clocking 13.80 seconds.INDIA'S MEDAL TALLY REACHES 8Ambure was India's only track and field athlete at the Dakar Games, and her bronze took the country's overall medal tally to eight, with three silver and five bronze medals. India's silver medals have come through Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada in judo, Tanvi Patri in badminton and Taniya in beach wrestling.Swimmers Dhinidhi Desinghu and Tirthank Pegu, along with wushu athlete Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu, are among India's other bronze medallists. Desinghu has won two bronze medals in the competition.Earlier, Shourya Ambure clocked 13.77s, also a personal best, to finish second behind Peeters (13.62s) in the second semi-final and qualify for the medal race.Shourya previously won bronze in the women's 100m hurdles at the Asian U18 Athletics Championships 2025 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, clocking 13.80 seconds.Shourya's bronze was also India's first athletics medal at Dakar 2026 and the country's eighth overall at this edition, taking the tally to three silver and five bronze medals.India's three silver medals in Dakar came through Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada in judo, Tanvi Patri in badminton and Taniya in beach wrestling.Dhinidhi Desinghu, who won two swimming bronze medals, fellow swimmer Tirthank Pegu and wushu athlete Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu are India's other bronze medallists.- Ends