The Panamanian delegation This Monday, November 2, he completed his first day of competitions in the IV Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 with the defeat of the men’s under-17 futsal team 0-5 against Afghanistan and the participation of judoka Julieta Escobar in the -52 kilogram category, action with which the country officially began its journey in the youth Olympic event in Senegal.
In the tournament futsal, The national team fell on the first date of Group A against an Afghan team that took advantage of its options in attack to seal the victory.
On the tatami, Escobar opened Team Panama’s performance in the morning session by defeating Ippon (highest score that can be achieved in Japanese martial arts such as judo) in six seconds to Deann Walton, of Barbados, in the round of 16.
Subsequently, The national athlete lost in the quarterfinals to the Slovak Vivien Vadovicova, which sent his participation to the repechage phase, where he fell in extra time through the rule of golden Score (the fight ends as soon as one of the contestants scores any technical point) against the Gambian Jobe Alima to finish her journey in the international competition.
“My experience today was good but sad”, declared the Panamanian judoka for the Panama Olympic Committee (COP) after the fight. However, he stressed that I can cope with “very good competitors” and said that he can still achieve more goals if he perfects his potential, so he will continue preparing for future competitions.
The national futsal team will face the local team from Senegal in its second match of the competition this Wednesday, November 4 at 12:30 pm (Panama time), scenario in which he will seek to add his first points in the standings.
For now, the Panamanian delegation will maintain its activity in the Senegalese capital throughout the week with the development of the following eliminatory rounds in the scheduled disciplines.
