This October, the world’s most promising young athletes will gather in Dakar, Senegal, for the fourth iteration of the Summer Youth Olympic Games, marking a historic first as the event makes its debut on the African continent. Among the thousands of competitors set to compete across 12 days of action from October 31 to November 13 is a small but determined three-person squad representing the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Inc., aiming to claim just the nation’s second all-time medal at the Youth Olympic Games.
The Saint Lucian delegation will compete across two core sports: aquatics and track and field. In the swimming pool at Dakar’s Tour de l’Oeuf venue, two young swimmers will lead the nation’s charge. Noah Dorville is scheduled to contest two men’s sprint events: the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle. Joining him in the aquatics competition is Fayth Jeffrey, a student-athlete based at Florida’s Bolles School, who will compete in the women’s 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. Rounding out the competing roster is Kadan Sam, Saint Lucia’s sole track and field representative, who will compete in the men’s 400m race at Dakar’s Stade Iba Mar Diop.
Behind the scenes, a seasoned support team has been assembled to guide the young athletes through the competition. Brian Charles will serve as head coach for the aquatics team, while former athlete Makeba Alcide takes on coaching duties for the track and field program. Veteran sports administrator Lisa Burton will lead the delegation as team chief for the full two-week duration of the Games.
For the small Caribbean nation, a medal in Dakar would mark a major milestone. Saint Lucia’s only previous Youth Olympic medal came at the 2018 Buenos Aires Games, where sprint star Julien Alfred claimed silver in the women’s 100m – a result that launched her career to global acclaim, culminating in a gold medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Since the Summer Youth Olympics launched in Singapore in 2010, 14 Saint Lucian athletes have competed across five disciplines: boxing, aquatics, athletics, sailing, and beach volleyball, with Alfred’s 2018 silver remaining the nation’s only podium finish to date.
The 2026 Dakar Games bring significant changes to the Youth Olympic model, implemented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to create a more sustainable, streamlined event. Unlike the 2018 Buenos Aires Games, which hosted more than 4,000 competing athletes, the IOC has capped the total athlete quota for Dakar at 2,700, a 32% reduction in overall participant numbers. All competitors must be between 15 and 17 years of age, selected per strict IOC allocation rules that cap participation per nation and per event.
Beyond the changes to event scale, Dakar 2026 is a landmark for the global Olympic movement. Senegal is the first African nation ever to host an Olympic-related event, a legacy that was almost derailed by global public health events. The Games were originally scheduled to take place in 2022, but widespread disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to postpone the event to 2026. In the interval between the 2018 Buenos Aires Games and the 2026 Dakar Games, two editions of the Winter Youth Olympic Games have been held successfully.