Two weeks ago in Qingdao, China, the mixed double partnership of Juntao Su and Lili Liu became under-19 world champions. Today, at Saly Beach West in Senegal, the Chinese rowers added the first ever under-18 Olympic title to their resumes.
They started both competitions similarly, conceding top spot in the first time trial to Germany, and ended both with a gold medal. And while the water conditions at Dakar 2026 haven’t been as complicated as those in China, the waves still threatened upsets in Senegal.
A big breaker hit Austria’s Lukas Shoenhuber and Alena Lux right as they launched off the beach in the gold medal match, throwing the advantage to their opponents. But then as the Chinese boat approached the shore on the return, another wave began to break below their boat. As Su jumped out to begin the run he stumbled and fell twice, but recovered to reach the line first.
The challenge of doubling up between worlds and the Youth Olympics is significant, especially including travel. “We are tired because we just came back from the world championship and we didn’t get any rest,” Liu said after their win.
And neither of the two can rest quite yet, as earlier today they both got through the last 16 knockouts in the solos. Tomorrow they’ll race again in the final stages of the men’s and women’s individual competitions.
In the bronze medal match, France’s Raphael de Boussac and Elisa Guilloton beat Ukraine’s Mykola Tomchai and Viktoriia Radchenko. Tomchai managed to jump out of his boat first, but de Boussac outpaced him to the buzzer. Although there was a significant break before the finals, the Ukrainian rower may have been carrying extra fatigue after a very tight battle in the semifinal with Austria.
The solos final stages are scheduled tomorrow at 10:03 UTC for the men and an hour later at 11:03 for the women. The bronze medal and gold medal races for the men’s solo are planned for 10:50 and 10:55, and for the women’s at 11:50 and 11:55.
Following the victory ceremonies, there will also be a mixed relay competition at 14:00. Details of the idea were announced to the national team coaches today, and the eight different teams in the event will be composed of a mixture of athletes from different countries.