Squad of 24 competing in Angola

The fourth African Youth Games got underway in Angola yesterday with Namibia amongst the dozens of African nations competing. Close to 3 000 young athletes between the ages 14 and 17 will be in action in 33 different sport codes at the quadrennial games, which will also serve as a qualifying event for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Africa for the first time in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. The 2025 African Youth Games will be held until 20 December in six Angolan cities, namely Luanda, Benguela, Bengo, Lubango, Huambo, Mocamedes and Caxito. Originally a Namibian team of 32 athletes was selected to compete in nine sporting codes, but that number was reduced to 24 athletes in seven codes, after the organisers cancelled gymnastics and wrestling when the venues could not be approved on time. The Namibian team will now compete in seven codes, namely athletics, swimming, basketball, tennis, boxing, golf, table tennis and boxing. Photo contributed