GUWAHATI: Assam’s Tirthank Pegu made history at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal on Friday, Noveember 7, winning bronze in the men’s 200m butterfly.
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The 17-year-old Assam boy became the first Indian male swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympics.
Pegu clocked 2:01.25 in the final to finish third and secure a place on the podium, as per reports in the sports media.
Egypt’s Zain Ali claimed gold with a time of 1:57.88, while Vietnam’s Duong Van Hoang Quy finished second in 2:00.32 to take silver.
Pegu had qualified for the final after topping the overall heats standings with a time of 2:05.30.
The medal was also a strong response from the young swimmer after he narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the men’s 100m butterfly earlier in the competition. Pegu finished fourth in that event with a time of 54.98 seconds, just 0.27 seconds short of bronze.
Boxer Shiva Thapa was the first sportsperson from Assam to win a Youth Olympics medal, taking silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010.
Pegu, a junior national record holder, had won silver in the 200m butterfly at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain in 2025.
Pegu hails from Ramakrishna, Jorhat. He began swimming at the age of just five.
