Rotorua’s Ariel Muchirahondo has become the first New Zealand swimmer to win more than one medal at a Youth Olympic Games.
The 17-year-old won the 100m backstroke in Dakar, Senegal, on day three of the Games. It adds to the 200m backstroke gold he won on the opening day.
It was a tight race, with Nikolaos Papatheodorou of Greece leading for the first 75m. Muchirahondo stayed calm and kept close, then found a final burst of speed to lunge at the wall in 55.69 seconds.
That was just a tenth of a second ahead of Papatheodorou, which is about the time it takes to blink. Miguel Reis Oliveira of Portugal won bronze.
“It was a really close race. I think I’m relieved and prideful that I came out on top,” Muchirahondo told Olympics.com.
Earlier this year, he won silver in the 100m backstroke at the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Vancouver. He has also broken several New Zealand age-group records that were held by Olympic champion Danyon Loader.
With Alyssa Lawson’s silver in the women’s 100m freestyle, New Zealand is currently fourth on the medal table, a list that ranks countries by the medals they have won.
Muchirahondo has two more events still to come.
Te Reo Māori
Upoko: Kua tuhi a Ariel Muchirahondo i te hītori ki ngā Youth Olympic Games
Ko Ariel Muchirahondo nō Rotorua te kaikaukau tuatahi o Aotearoa kia riro i a ia neke atu i te kotahi mētara i ngā Youth Olympic Games.
I toa te taitama 17 tau te pakeke i te 100m backstroke ki Dakar, Senegal, i te rā tuatoru o ngā whakataetae. Kua tāpiri tēnei ki te mētara koura i riro i a ia i te 200m backstroke i te rā tuatahi.
He whakataetae piri tonu, ā, ko Nikolaos Papatheodorou o Kirihi i mua mō te 75m tuatahi. I noho mārie a Muchirahondo, i piri tata tonu ia, kātahi ka kaha tana kaukau ki te mutunga, ā, ka pā tōna ringa ki te pātū i te 55.69 hēkona.
Kotahi hautekau noa iho o te hēkona tōna mua i a Papatheodorou, he rite ki te wā e kimo ai te karu. Nā Miguel Reis Oliveira o Potukara te mētara parahi.
“He whakataetae tino piri. Ki ōku whakaaro, he manawa tau, he whakahīhī hoki ahau i toa ahau,” tā Muchirahondo ki a Olympics.com.
I tēnei tau, i riro i a ia te mētara hiriwa i te 100m backstroke i ngā Junior Pan Pacific Championships 2026 ki Vancouver. Kua wāhia hoki e ia ētahi rekoata reanga tau o Aotearoa, nā te toa Olympic, a Danyon Loader, i mau i mua.
Nā te mētara hiriwa a Alyssa Lawson i te 100m freestyle wāhine, kei te tūranga tuawhā a Aotearoa i te rārangi mētara i tēnei wā. He rārangi tēnei e whakaraupapa ana i ngā whenua mā ngā mētara kua riro i a rātou.
E rua anō ngā whakataetae a Muchirahondo kei mua i a ia.
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