Khushbu Darjada Wins Judo Silver in Women's 63 kg at Youth Olympics
India has a silver medal in judo at the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026. Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada finished second in the women's 63 kg category on 2 November. She is just 15 years old. Germany's Jolina Reinhold beat her in the gold medal bout. Reinhold ended the contest with an ippon.
Here is the full podium for the event.
- Gold: Jolina Reinhold (Germany)
- Silver: Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada (India)
- Bronze: Sashenka Fatimah (Indonesia)
- Bronze: Aaisha Kyialbekova (Kyrgyzstan)
Judo awards two bronze medals in every category. That is why two athletes share the third step of the podium.
The result is a rare one for Indian judo. Khushbu is only the second Indian judoka to win a medal at the Youth Olympic Games. The first was Thangjam Tababi Devi. She won silver in the women's 44 kg category at Buenos Aires 2018. Khushbu's medal comes eight years after that breakthrough.
Her run to the final was strong. She started in the round of 16 against Guinea's Mamaissata Camara. That bout was tight. Khushbu won it 1-0 on a yuko. In the quarter-final, she met Morocco's Abir Bouazzaoui. She won that one by ippon. The semi-final brought a match with Algeria's Dounia Berrahoual. Khushbu won again by ippon and booked her place in the final. Reinhold proved too good in the last bout.
The silver came on the same day as another Indian medal. Swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu won bronze in the women's 100 m freestyle. Between them, the two teenagers gave India 2 medals on 2 November: 1 silver and 1 bronze.
More chances are close. Desinghu still has two events to swim, the 200 m individual medley and the 200 m freestyle. Wushu athlete Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu is also through to the women's taolu changquan combined final on Tuesday. She finished second in the preliminary round with a total score of 17.982.