Rwanda has selected over 100 potential athletes for its Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics team ©Getty Images

A group of 130 young athletes in Rwanda have begun their preparations to compete at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, having been selected from a pool of 372 people.

The youngsters have been selected in swimming, tennis, table tennis and cycling.

Activities have been held in these sports, organised by their respective National Federations and the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC).

The whittling down to 130 athletes came at the end of the first phase of the Youth Athlete Development Programme 2021-2024, which took place from October to December 2022.

All athletes are aged between 10 and 14 years old.

The RNOSC hope the athletes will benefit from training camps over the next four years in the build-up to Dakar 2026, which was pushed back four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing preparations issues.

Athletes are due to train for the 2026 African Youth Games in Maseru in Lesotho too.

A group of 30 young cyclists in Rwanda have been selected to train for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar ©RNOSC
A group of 30 young cyclists in Rwanda have been selected to train for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar ©RNOSC

The largest group of athletes are training in table tennis, with 40 players selected.

Tennis, swimming and cycling have 30 each.

The Rwanda Swimming Federation held its talent identification scheme in October and November in Kigali, with 30 being chosen from 134.

Half of the applicants in table tennis were picked, while 30 were in tennis from 85 candidates.

A group of 30 cyclists were chosen from 73 potential athletes.

RNOSC, according to New Times, will be working with athletes by organising the training camps and helping them participate in qualifying tournaments and international competitions.