Dhinidhi Desinghu made history at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Friday, becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single edition of the Youth Olympics after claiming bronze in the women’s 200m freestyle swimming event.
The 16-year-old clocked 2:02.28 to finish behind the People’s Republic of China’s Chang Mohan (1:59.59) and Croatia’s Ana Bobanović (2:01.17). She had earlier topped the heats with 2:04.51.
Dhinidhi, who also won bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle earlier in the week, spoke to Olympics.com, reflecting on her achievements, the disappointment of missing out on gold and her ambitions for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Q: Congratulations on your second medal. How are you feeling after the 200m freestyle final?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I feel really good, but I have mixed emotions right now. I wanted to do so much better.
It’s my main event, it was the last event of the year and the last race of the meet, and I really wanted to come home with a bang. I wanted to win gold. I wanted to win the country’s first gold medal, but that didn’t happen.
I also missed my personal best by a few milliseconds. Still, I’m quite proud that I was able to come away with a medal. It’s not easy to compete at a meet like this and deliver your personal best.
I managed two personal bests at this meet. I expected another one in this event, but that didn’t happen, and I think that’s okay.
Q: You’ve become the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single Youth Olympics. Does this medal mean something different to you?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I don’t really think about the double-medallist part. I wanted gold because I wanted to become the first Indian at this meet to win a gold medal. That didn’t happen.
But winning two medals is still a really big achievement.
As athletes, we always have goals and aspirations. Sometimes, when we don’t achieve those goals, we overlook what we have accomplished.
Winning two bronze medals is something no Indian swimmer has done at the Youth Olympic Games before. That’s a really proud moment for me.
Q: Although you missed your personal best, what do you think went well in the race?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I don’t think I could have done better, honestly. Everybody gives the best they possibly can, no matter what the situation is, and I gave the best I could.
Everything leading up to today went really well. I kept my energy up, rested well and did everything I could to prepare.
The time wasn’t as good as I expected, but I think that’s okay.
There are going to be many more opportunities in the future. I’m proud that I’ve been able to maintain consistent times across competitions rather than fluctuating by several seconds and achieving a personal best only once a year.
I’ve been maintaining this pace quite well, and I’m especially proud of that consistency.
Q: Have these two medals given you more confidence heading towards the LA 2028 Olympics?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I don’t think LA 2028 is too far away, honestly. We’re already at the end of 2026, and qualification starts next year. There really isn’t that much time.
My goal is to qualify for the Olympics. I think people need to understand how difficult Olympic qualification has become, especially in events like the 100m and 200m freestyle.
But I take that as a challenge. I’m going to give 110 per cent and work as hard as I possibly can to qualify.
This meet has added more fuel to the fire. The fire was already burning, but this has added gasoline to it.
The medals, the crowd and the atmosphere have really motivated me. They’ve also shown me how competitive Los Angeles is going to be.
These are athletes I’ll probably be competing against in future competitions, so this experience has made me even more determined to improve and qualify for the Olympics.
Q: How do you plan to celebrate your two medals?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I don’t really have any plans.
I’m done with this meet and with the whole year, so I’ll probably take a break and maybe have some junk food.
But I have my midterm exams coming up, so I need to study.
As a student-athlete, there’s never really a break. Either you’re swimming or you’re studying. If you’re not studying, you have to swim.
Maybe after my exams, I’ll go out with my friends and family. A lot of them have been asking me to come out.
It would be nice to take my mind off swimming for a little while and just be a normal school kid.
Q: How difficult is it to balance swimming with your education?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: When it comes to competitions like this, I give 110 per cent to swimming and try to put my education aside for a little while.
It’s not easy to attend classes in the middle of the day, recover properly and then swim well across two sessions.
I didn’t really study coming into this meet. I brought my books and kept telling myself I’d study the next day, but I didn’t want to add that stress while preparing for my races.
Whenever I get time, maybe on weekends, I try to catch up with my studies.
I’m not the brightest student, but I think I’m quite decent academically. I also believe it’s important for athletes to focus on both education and sport.
Sport teaches us discipline and helps us manage our time. I think those qualities also help us with our studies.
It’s difficult, but it’s not impossible. I find ways to balance both.
Q: What will you remember most about your experience at Dakar 2026?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: Everything, honestly.
The pool, the people, my first medal, the personal bests, staying in the Olympic Village, the Indian contingent, my teammates and roommates – all of it.
Even the three months of training leading up to this competition were a massive roller coaster. There were so many ups and downs.
I think the entire journey to this meet is something I’ll remember forever.
Q: Has winning two Youth Olympic medals changed you as an athlete or as a person?
Dhinidhi Desinghu: I don’t think so.
A lot of my teammates remind me that I’ve competed at the Olympics, Youth Olympics, World Championships and so many other competitions.
But I always tell them that I’m still the same 16-year-old. Nothing really changes about me.
Winning a medal doesn’t mean I suddenly become a different person. I’m still the same person I was two or three months ago.
Of course, if you look at a longer period, a lot has changed, especially in how I compose myself mentally.
But over the course of a week, I don’t think there’s much that changes.
I’m still the same kid, and I’m still hungry to get much, much better in the future.
