Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu wins India's first Youth Olympics wushu medal

Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu, a 15-year-old from Manipur, won the bronze medal in the women's changquan combined wushu event at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday, 3 November 2026. It is India's first wushu medal at the Youth Olympics. Chanu scored 18.039 points across two routines, finishing behind Egypt's Sondos Sonbol, who won gold with 18.660, and Venezuela's Valeria Frannerys Dudamel, who took silver with 18.199. Her bronze raised India's tally in Dakar to three medals: one silver and two bronze.

Wushu is the competitive form of Chinese martial arts. In the taolu events, athletes perform set routines, judged on technique, power, balance and difficulty, rather than fighting an opponent. Changquan, or long fist, is a fast routine with wide movements and jumps; gunshu is a routine with a staff. The combined event adds the two scores together, so a weaker first routine can be made up in the second, as Chanu did when she climbed from fourth to third.

For Indian sport, the medal matters on two levels. Wushu is not one of the country's high-profile sports, and it is rarely on television. A Youth Olympic medal for a 15-year-old from the state gives the sport, and the young athletes who practise it, a rare moment of national attention.

It also matters for India's small team in Dakar. India sent only 17 athletes to these Games, its smallest Youth Olympic contingent. Within the first few days, three of them have won medals, in judo, swimming and now wushu, and two of those medals are firsts for India at the Youth Olympics: the first in swimming and the first in wushu. Because the Games are for teenage athletes, results here are watched as an early sign of who might go on to senior international competition.

Peepals calculation: Chanu's two routines add up exactly to her total (8.723 plus 9.316 equals 18.039). She finished 0.160 points behind the silver medallist (18.199 minus 18.039) and 0.621 behind the gold medallist (18.660 minus 18.039). Her changquan score was 0.593 points higher than her gunshu score, which is what lifted her onto the podium. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: India's medal count in Dakar stands at three, and Chanu becomes the face of a sport that gets little attention at home.

Long-term: A Youth Olympic medal can help a young athlete get support from schemes and sports bodies, and can bring more young people, especially in the north-east, into wushu.

Who is affected: Chanu and her coaches, India's wushu federation and young wushu players in Manipur and elsewhere, and India's team in Dakar.

What to watch next: India's remaining events at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, which run until 13 November 2026.

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