Wushu taolu began at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on 1 November. Singapore's Ng Zhe Nin tops the women's taijishan with 9.300, ahead of Chu Yu En (TPE) and Angel Polo (PHI), both on 9.223. Taijiquan on Monday decides who reaches Tuesday's final.

Wushu has officially stepped onto the Olympic competition stage. The taolu programme of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games opened on Sunday, 1 November, at the Dakar Expo Center (DEX) in Diamniadio, the first time the sport has been part of an Olympic-series event as a medal discipline rather than a demonstration.

The first day was devoted to preliminary routines: men's changquan, women's taijishan, women's gunshu and men's taijiquan. Xinhua photographers captured competitors from a wide spread of nations on day one, among them Arash Pahali of Iran, Robbe Asselman of Belgium and Chahim Abdallah Yasso of Djibouti.

Video: Olympics / YouTube

Women's taijishan: Singapore in front

The clearest early picture comes from the women's taijishan (tai chi fan), the first half of the women's taijiquan combined event. Singapore's Ng Zhe Nin, a former World Youth Championships gold medallist, posted the best score of the preliminaries with 9.300. Chu Yu En of Chinese Taipei and Angel Polo of the Philippines are level behind her on 9.223.

Polo, the 15-year-old who took bronze at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Tianjin earlier this year, briefly held the lead before Ng's routine. She lost some stability midway through her performance after a problem with her fan and explained afterwards that she had not kept her grip on it properly, which cost her balance for a moment. Even so, she sits in a podium position at the halfway mark.

What happens next

Each athlete in Dakar performs two routines, and the scores are combined. The women's taijiquan field returns on Monday, 2 November, for the bare-hand taijiquan routine, and the top eight on combined scores advance to the finals on Tuesday, 3 November, when the first four Olympic wushu gold medals will be awarded.

For a full explanation of the format, see our guide: Dakar 2026 Wushu Taolu Explained. EUWUSHU.TV will follow every session through to the medal ceremonies.

Sources: Daily Tribune, Tiebreaker Times, Xinhua. Photo: Dakar 2026

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