BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched a global call on Tuesday for creatives to design the obverse side of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) medals.

Design submissions will be accepted from September 2 to October 7, 2025, via a dedicated platform on Olympics.com, where candidates can access a toolkit with design specifications, guidelines and rules. Entries will be evaluated based on creativity, originality, relevance to the YOG narrative, feasibility, and the written description.

A diverse jury featuring IOC Dakar 2026 Coordination Commission Chair Humphrey Kayange, Gangwon 2024 medal designer Dante Akira Uwai, Olympian Artist Annabel Eyres, IOC Young Leaders Peniamina Percival and Pragnya Mohan, IOC Young Reporters Park Yun-su and Yann Durand, and Dakar 2026 ambassador Elzo Jamdong will review applications and recommend a design to the IOC Executive Board for validation.

The medal design initiative began at the Singapore 2010 YOG, where Japanese designer Setsuko Fukuzawa created the "Yes Youth Can" design. Subsequent editions have featured designs by young artists from Slovakia, Romania, Indonesia, New Zealand and Brazil.

Dakar 2026 will run from October 31 to November 13, uniting the world's best young athletes under 17 years old across three host sites - Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. ■