Seventeen-year-old Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei from Manipur has created history by becoming India’s first-ever boxing gold medallist at the Youth Olympic Games, defeating Ireland’s Kristian Jubani 3-2 in the men’s 50kg final at Dakar 2026.
The closely contested final was held at the Dakar Expo Centre in Senegal, where the young Indian pugilist edged past his Irish opponent on the judges’ scorecards after recovering from a first-round deficit. The victory ended a 16-year wait for India in Youth Olympic boxing: Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishan had won the country’s only previous medals in the sport at the Games.
Meetei had reached the final with a unanimous 5-0 victory in the semi-final, becoming the first Indian boxer to fight for gold at the Youth Olympics.
A golden double for India
India’s boxing triumph at Dakar did not stop with Meetei. Gunjan won the women’s 48kg final 5-0 against Algeria’s Bouthaina Bensalah, becoming India’s first female boxing gold medallist at the Youth Olympic Games. Together, the two golds marked a landmark moment for Indian boxing.
The Boxing Federation of India said the victory secured the country’s first gold medal of the Dakar edition, where Indian athletes had earlier won silver and bronze medals across wrestling, swimming and other disciplines.
From Lamlai to Dakar
Meetei hails from Lamlai Mayai Leikai in Imphal East district and comes from a humble background. His uncles first spotted his natural talent and urged him to step into the ring. A Lionel Messi fan who once wanted to pursue football, he began boxing in 2018 and competed in his first national-level tournament in 2021.
He joined the National Sports Academy in Imphal in 2023, but with limited equipment and infrastructure there, he moved to the Army Sports Institute in Pune, where he was recruited as a cadet in the Boys Sports Company. Before arriving in Dakar, he had won silver at the World Boxing Futures Cup in Bangkok and bronze at the Asian U19 Boxing Championships in Jakarta in 2025.
His next ambition is to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. After the win, he said he wished to click a picture with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Northeast has a growing record of producing champion fighters: Pasighat recently got its own boxing ring for young fighters in East Siang, and Sonam Zomba has carried Arunachal’s flag to the world stage. The Indian Army’s sports conclave has set out a blueprint for Olympic glory by 2036, and Meetei’s gold shows the pipeline is already delivering.
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