Mexico's Karen Rios wins beach wrestling silver at Dakar 2026
Rios lost the 45 kg final 3-1 to Senegal's Ndeye Diatta after a review wiped out a three-point throw, Mexico's first silver at the Youth Olympics.
Mexico's Karen Rios Silva, a wrestler from Oaxaca, took silver in the 45 kg beach wrestling event at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. She lost Sunday's final 3-1 to Senegal's Ndeye Khady Anna Diatta, who won gold. It is the first silver for the Mexican delegation at these Games.
Diatta scored first, a point for forcing Rios out of the fighting area. With about 45 seconds left, Rios put her on the sand with a headlock throw and the referee awarded three points, enough to win. Senegal asked for a review. The replay showed Rios's head hit the sand first, so the move was wiped out and Diatta got another point, making it 2-0.
Rios pulled one back with another headlock six seconds from the end. With three seconds on the clock she went for it again, but her face touched the sand first and that point made it 3-1 for good. Colombia's Valery Rubio took bronze with a 4-0 win over Algeria's Meriem Grib. Diatta's gold gave Senegal three titles in beach wrestling.
Rios had stood on a youth podium before. In September 2025 she won bronze in the same weight class at the world under-17 and under-20 championships in Katerini, Greece, beating American Molly Blue 3-0. Mexico's sports commission presented that tournament as the start of the road to Dakar.
Mexico sent 62 athletes in 19 sports to the first Youth Olympics held in Africa. The country's other medals so far were bronzes, including swimmer Daniel Saborío's and the Baseball5 team's.
