India's Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada claimed a silver medal in the women's 63kg judo event at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, becoming only the second Indian judoka to win a medal at the prestigious competition.
The 15-year-old from Somnath in Gujarat finished runner-up after losing to Germany's Jolina Reinhold, the reigning Cadet world champion, by ippon in the gold medal contest on Monday.
Khushbu's achievement came eight years after Manipur's Thangjam Tababi Devi became India's first Youth Olympic judo medallist, winning silver in the women's 44kg category at Buenos Aires in 2018.
๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น
Khushbu began her campaign with a victory over Guinea's Mamaissata Camara in the round of 16, winning by yuko.
She followed it with an impressive ippon victory against Morocco's Abir Bouazzaoui in the quarterfinals before defeating Algeria's Dounia Berrahoual in the semifinals to secure a place in the gold medal contest.
However, Germany's Reinhold proved too strong in the final, winning by ippon in just 48 seconds.
Reflecting on her performance, Khushbu said she had prepared herself mentally and physically to face the experienced German judoka.
"It was a great experience for me to compete at the global level in Dakar," she said.
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐น๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐บ
The youngest of seven siblings, Khushbu began practising judo at a district-level academy in Somnath in 2021.
Her early success in local competitions encouraged her to pursue the sport more seriously.
"It was good to win district-level competitions. It motivated me to continue to pursue judo," she recalled.
In 2023, she was selected for the Vijayi Bharat Foundation (VBF), a high-performance training centre in Ahmedabad, where she began training under coach Lal Krishan Baghel.
Baghel credited improved training facilities and stronger sparring partners for Khushbu's progress.
"Better training and good sparring partners at the VBF enabled Khushbu to win a medal in Dakar," he said.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ
The Youth Olympic silver was Khushbu's second international medal this year, following her bronze in the women's 63kg category at the Asian Cadet Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Despite her achievement, the teenager is unlikely to take an immediate break to celebrate with her family in Somnath.
"I doubt I will get leave to meet my parents as I have to compete in the Khelo India competition," she said.
Khushbu's silver also contributed to India's medal tally at the Dakar Games, where swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu secured a historic bronze in the women's 100m freestyle, becoming the country's first swimming medallist at the Youth Olympics.