Nicosia:Vladimiros Charalambous and Evgenia Maria Polykarpou have been selected to carry the Cyprus flag at the opening ceremony of the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, 2026. The event will be held in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, 2026.

According to Cyprus News Agency, the Cyprus Olympic Committee announced that Charalambous, a judo competitor, achieved ninth place at the 2025 U18 World Championships and ranked third in the Cyprus national championships across senior, cadet, and junior categories that same year. Polykarpou, a beach sprint rowing athlete, was ranked 18th in the world in the U19 category in 2025 and won first place in solo and double events at international LNC International Beach Sprints competitions in 2026.

Cyprus will send a team of eight athletes competing in six sports. The delegation includes Andrew Marcus Lagoutis and Maria Kermanou in swimming, Evgenia Maria Polykarpou in rowing, Aris Kayias in fencing, Marina Chatzikosta and Andreas Panteli in athletics, Ioanna Constantinou in taekwondo, and Vladimiros Charalambous in judo.

This marks Cyprus' fourth participation in the Youth Olympic Games and its debut in fencing, taekwondo, and rowing at the event. The Cyprus Olympic Committee extended its best wishes to the athletes, expressing confidence in their ability to represent the nation with sportsmanship, determination, and pride.