Nigeria’s Shukurat Mayowa has been eliminated from the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after losing 5–0 to Algeria’s Bouthaina Bensalah in the women’s 48kg boxing quarter-finals on Tuesday. The unanimous decision ended the 17-year-old’s bid for a medal at the Dakar Expo Centre, Bold sports reports.
Mayowa was Nigeria’s only boxer at the Games and entered the competition directly in the last eight after receiving a first-round bye. Her opening bout therefore also decided whether she would reach the medal rounds, with Bensalah taking the semi-final place.
The Algerian will face Italy’s Michela Guglielmon on Wednesday, November 11. Guglielmon advanced with a 5–0 victory over Poland’s Katarzyna Gornisiewicz in another quarter-final. India’s Gunjan and Britain’s Lily Bassett complete the semi-final line-up in the other half of the draw.
Tuesday’s contest was a rematch of the women’s 48kg final at the 2025 African Youth Games in Luanda, Angola, where Mayowa won gold after defeating Bensalah by a split decision. The Nigerian arrived in Dakar as the reigning continental youth champion, but the Algerian reversed that result on the Youth Olympic stage.
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Bensalah had already boxed once in Senegal before meeting Mayowa. She defeated Thailand’s Pemika Payungkasem 5–0 in the round of 16, giving her consecutive unanimous victories on the way to the last four.
Before the quarter-final, Bensalah told Made in Africa Sport in an exclusive interview that her preparations had included competing at the World Championships in Montenegro. She also credited her national team coaches and family for supporting her build-up to the Games.
For Mayowa, the defeat closes her campaign after one competitive appearance. Nigeria’s boxing hopes had rested entirely on her following the selection of a single representative for the sport, one of six disciplines in the country’s 19-athlete delegation.
The women’s 48kg semi-finals take place on Wednesday, with the final scheduled for Thursday, November 12. Bensalah’s progression guarantees an African boxer a place in the division’s medal rounds.
Nigeria has already enjoyed success elsewhere in Dakar, winning both 100m titles and the women’s 400m. Rosemary Nwankwo claimed the women’s sprint crown on Sunday, while Gift Bright won the men’s final in a Games-record 10.28 seconds.
Praise Ugoh added the 400m title on Monday with a personal best of 52.76 seconds, ahead of Venezuela’s Osmary Pacheco and the United Arab Emirates’ Aisha Muhammed. Those three athletics victories gave Nigeria three gold medals before Mayowa stepped into the ring for her quarter-final.
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