Go for Gold - literally
International Olympic Committee (IOC) is calling on creatives for medal designs for Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
Image: Supplied
Your art could be hanging around champions' necks.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is extending an opportunity to creatives worldwide as it invites submissions for a medal design that could possibly feature on the medals to be awarded to athletes.
The selected design will feature on the obverse side of the medal that will be handed to athletes who make podium finishes at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
The 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games marks a historic milestone, as Dakar in Senegal becomes the first city in Africa to host an Olympic Games, taking place from 31 October to 13 November 2026.
Dante Akira Uwai, designer of the obverse side of the Gangwon 2024 medal, said much has changed since Gangwon.
"Many opportunities have opened up to me thanks to the medal design competition, especially for my career. But I think the most important change was actually internal. It was realising the transformative power of both art and sport,” said Uwai, a Brazilian artist and architect.
Uwai said when he was designing the medal he visualised the athlete receiving it.
“What do I want them to feel? What do I want them to see? And when they are older and full of stories to tell, what memories should the medal bring back when they see it hanging on the wall?”
“I think the most impactful memory was seeing the medal being awarded to an athlete for the very first time. I had imagined that scene for a whole year, and when it finally happened, it was a very, very emotional moment,” said Uwai.
A jury will review applications, rank designs and share their recommendation with the IOC Executive Board for validation.
The reverse of the medal will be developed by the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee and will incorporate Senegalese cultural elements alongside the YOG emblem.
The opportunity to design the obverse of the medal was first introduced for the Singapore 2010 YOG, when Japan’s Setsuko Fukuzawa created the “Yes Youth Can” design.
Since then, young designers from Slovakia, Romania, Indonesia, New Zealand and Brazil have seen their creations presented to athletes on the YOG podium.
Designs can be submitted until 7 October 2025 through a dedicated platform on Olympics.com. (https://apo-opa.co/4mTEo6H)
Candidates can also access a toolkit with design specifications, guidelines and rules. Entries will be judged on creativity, originality, relevance to the YOG narrative, feasibility and the written description.