With no bats, no gloves and no pitchers in sight, baseball5 may seem light years away from the traditional game of baseball.
But on Friday (30 October), a day before the Opening Ceremony of Dakar 2026, eight teams took to the field as this fast-paced urban version of the game made its Youth Olympic Games debut.
The action began with world champions Cuba taking on Türkiye at the Complexe Tour de l’Oeuf, as the first baseball5 competition at a Youth Olympic Games got under way.
With mixed gender teams of players using their hands to hit the ball from a standing position on an 18m x 18m court, the Cubans demonstrated their class with a 2-0 victory over their Turkish rivals.
The ecstatic reaction of the Cuban players after the game showed just how much the tournament means to the teenagers involved.
“Even though we are inexperienced youngsters, we have baseball running through our veins and in our hearts, and we will always, always, always put Cuba at the top,” Jean Carlos Machado Casado told Olympics.com after the game.
“It’s a source of pride for us… This is the first time a youth Olympic event has been held in this discipline, and the great thing is that we are the first to represent the Cuban team,” added Jairon Medina Rabeiro.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/dakar-2026/news/dakar-2026-baseball5-debut-youth-olympic-games
