~ Making the most of her only opportunity to win Youth Olympic gold, the 16-year-old endeared herself to the host nation at Dakar 2026.
"VAN" (Sports Desk - 10.11.2026) :: Petra Uglesic entered the octagon as a rather unknown 16-year-old on Sunday. With aspirations of taekwondo gold, she hoped to leave a slight mark on the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. Now, she’ll leave as one of its most recognisable faces.
Claiming a sound victory, 2-0 (21-6, 19-3), over the Russian Federation’s Elina Tkhamokova in the women’s -44kg gold medal match at the Complexe Iba Mar Diop, she decided to share her moment of glory with a very special guest: a young Senegalese fan.
Collecting Croatia’s flag from the crowd, she motioned towards a young child sat in the first few rows, imploring him to join her in the centre of the arena. Accepting him into her arms, she promptly ran back on to the octagon with the young fan in tow.
“He was a random boy I saw today when I was competing,” she said. “I saw these little cute Senegal kids, and they were so adorable, so I went to pick a random one and bring him with me to celebrate the victory.”
Cr-Olympics
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