Vladimiros Charalambous and Evgenia Maria Polykarpou will carry the Cyprus flag at the opening ceremony of the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games, Dakar 2026, which will take place in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, 2026.
According to a press release issued by the Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC), Charalambous, who competes in judo, finished in ninth place at the 2025 U18 World Championships. That same year, ranked third at the Cyprus national championships in the senior, cadet and junior categories.
Polykarpou, who competes in beach sprint rowing, ranked 18th in the world in the U19 category in 2025. In 2026, she finished first in both the solo and double events at international LNC International Beach Sprints competitions.
Cyprus will be represented by eight athletes across six sports. Andrew Marcus Lagoutis and Maria Kermanou will compete 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 will be Cyprus’ fourth appearance at the Youth Olympic Games and the first time the country will compete in fencing, taekwondo and rowing at the event.
The COC wished all members of the Cypriot delegation every success, expressing confidence that they would represent Cyprus with sportsmanship, determination and pride.