Egypt's Zain Ali adds 50m butterfly gold to his 100m title to become Africa's first double champion of the Games, Nigeria's Kashope Eyituoyo Obatoyinbo goes from swim-off to sixth in the 50m freestyle, and South Africa's Eric Kotze and Kenya's Jeremy Rieck give Africa three of the eight places in the butterfly final
DAKAR, Senegal, Wednesday 4 November 2026 – Three days after winning the 100m butterfly, Zain Ali did it again. The Egyptian won the men's 50m butterfly at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in 24.06, touching 0.48 seconds clear of Serbia's Aleksej Kalanj, the same swimmer he beat to 100m gold on Sunday.
The win makes Ali the first African swimmer with two gold medals at these Games and gives Egypt a second swimming gold. It also takes Africa's swimming medal count to five: two golds, two silvers and a bronze.
Ali was not the only African in the final. South Africa's Eric Kotze finished fifth and Kenya's Jeremy Rieck sixth. Earlier in the session, Nigeria's Kashope Eyituoyo Obatoyinbo, who had needed a swim-off just to reach the men's 50m freestyle final, finished sixth from lane eight, with Kotze eighth.
Ali: Butterfly King of Dakar
Ali came into the final as the fastest qualifier by 0.67 seconds and swam from lane four. He made no mistake. His 24.06 was within six hundredths of his morning swim, and it was enough to beat Kalanj (24.54) and Cyprus's Andrew Marcus Laghoutis (24.57), who also took bronze in the 50m freestyle earlier in the afternoon.
The podium's top two was a repeat of Sunday: Ali first, Kalanj second. In both butterfly finals the Egyptian's winning margin has been big for a sprint, 1.87 seconds over 100m and 0.48 over 50m.
Kotze: Two Finals in One Afternoon
Eric Kotze, 16, swam two finals within an hour. In the 50m freestyle, from lane two, he finished eighth in 23.76. Less than an hour later he was back for the 50m butterfly and finished fifth in 24.88, just 0.02 outside his morning time and 0.23 behind fourth-placed Jaden Mills of Trinidad and Tobago.
Reaching two Olympic finals on the same day, in two different strokes, at 16, is a significant first Games for the South African.
Rieck: Sixth Again
Kenya's Jeremy Rieck finished sixth in 25.07, matching his place in Sunday's 100m butterfly final. Two butterfly finals have brought two sixth places, and this time he finished 0.42 ahead of the Philippines' Jamesray Mishael Ajido in seventh.
Africa's Butterfly Depth
Both men's butterfly finals at these Games have featured three African swimmers. On Sunday it was Ali, Rieck and Algeria's Salaheddine Torki in the 100m. Today it was Ali, Kotze and Rieck in the 50m. Both times an African swimmer stood on the top step of the podium, and both times Rieck finished sixth. Of the 16 places in the two finals, Africa filled six.
Obatoyinbo: From Swim-Off to Sixth
Obatoyinbo had tied for eighth in the morning heats with the Bahamas' Christon Joseph at 23.67 and had to win a swim-off to make the final. He then went faster again. From lane eight, the 16-year-old Nigerian touched in 23.43, 0.24 quicker than in the heats, to finish sixth, ahead of Korea's Lee Jihoo (23.55) and Kotze. He was only 0.08 behind Chinese Taipei's Lee Han in fifth. The Czech Republic's Zdenek Prochazka won gold in 22.54.
It was Nigeria's first final in the events we have covered at these Games.
The Continental Picture
Day four was Africa's biggest day yet in the water: 65 swimmers from 36 nations in the morning heats, four African finalists in the afternoon, and a second gold for Zain Ali. After four days of swimming, Egypt and South Africa have shared five medals, and Africa has had at least one finalist in every finals session. The swimming programme at Dakar 2026 continues at the Complexe Tour de l'Oeuf.
Results: African Finalists – Day 4 Finals
Men's 50m Butterfly – Final
| Place | Swimmer | NOC | Lane | R.T. | Final | Heats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Gold) | Zain ALI | EGY | 4 | 0.67 | 24.06 | 24.00 | +0.06 |
| 5 | Eric KOTZE | RSA | 2 | 0.62 | 24.88 | 24.86 | +0.02 |
| 6 | Jeremy RIECK | KEN | 7 | 0.67 | 25.07 | 25.05 | +0.02 |
Podium: 1. Zain ALI (EGY) 24.06; 2. Aleksej KALANJ (SRB) 24.54; 3. Andrew Marcus LAGHOUTIS (CYP) 24.57
Men's 50m Freestyle – Final
| Place | Swimmer | NOC | Lane | R.T. | Final | Heats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Kashope Eyituoyo OBATOYINBO | NGR | 8 | 0.65 | 23.43 | 23.67 | -0.24 |
| 8 | Eric KOTZE | RSA | 2 | 0.63 | 23.76 | 23.54 | +0.22 |
Podium: 1. Zdenek PROCHAZKA (CZE) 22.54; 2. Jaden MILLS (TTO) 22.99; 3. Andrew Marcus LAGHOUTIS (CYP) 23.04
African Swimming Medal Tracker – Dakar 2026 (Cumulative)
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| South Africa | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Africa Total | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
African Medallists So Far
| Medal | Swimmer | NOC | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Zain ALI | EGY | Men's 100m Butterfly | 52.16 |
| Gold | Zain ALI | EGY | Men's 50m Butterfly | 24.06 |
| Silver | Leah MARKGRAAFF | RSA | Women's 400m Freestyle | 4:26.13 |
| Silver | Chanel VELDSMAN | RSA | Women's 100m Breaststroke | 1:09.48 |
| Bronze | Chanel VELDSMAN | RSA | Women's 200m Breaststroke | 2:30.87 |
Sources: Official Results, Events 18 and 22, Finals, Dakar 2026 (Wednesday 4 November 2026, reports v1.0, 15:09–16:12)
