Present in Singapore (2010), Nanjing (2014) and Buenos Aires (2018), sport shooting was not included in the competition program of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The discipline has been downgraded among the sports in the mobilization program, such as canoeing, golf, hockey, tennis or modern pentathlon. At the ASOIF General Assembly, the President of the International Federation (ISSF), Luciano Rossi, pleaded the cause of his sport.
« It is important to emphasize that, following my election as President at the end of 2022, I held several meetings with the organizing committee in Dakar, together with my Secretary General, and I insisted not only on our strong desire to return to the sports program, but also that it could be achieved without adding excessive costs or logistical difficulties » he explains on the ISSF website.
President Luciano Rossi meets Youth Olympic Games organizers at ASOIF and continues to fight to return shooting sport as a core sport on the sport programme.#ISSF https://t.co/RoWL05lB9Z
— ISSF (@issf_official) June 11, 2025
« We have had several open and constructive discussions, and our colleagues in Dakar are certainly ready to discuss a practical proposal to present to the IOC, He said. Based on our strong digital and TV audience performance at the Paris Olympic Games, I am determined to work constructively with the Dakar organizers and the IOC to find solutions that can benefit the ISSF and the Olympic Movement." The YOG will open in 16 months, on October 31, 2026.
