Singapore’s Daryen Ko finished sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on 10 November, clocking a personal best of 52.16.

The time is a new Singapore Under-18 national record, according to the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC). The SNOC said it was the eighth time the 17-year-old has set an age-group record since early last year.

“I can’t put a word to it, I’m overwhelmed,” Ko said in a post-race video posted by the SNOC.

Ko reached the final by finishing fourth in the first semi-final in 52.87 on 9 November, and ran from lane nine in the nine-man final at Complexe Iba Mar Diop.

“Coming into this race I was, truth be told, I was scared,” he said. “Not so much about losing or about not doing a PB, but these conditions actually are scary. I’m running against giants and the 400m hurdles is just so so taxing to the body two days in a row.”

Looking back at his semi-final, he said, he knew he had to start faster. “I knew I needed to dare a bit more. What really got me here was channeling fear into strong strong faith and belief.”

He called it a life lesson. “As someone who gets scared really easily, just turning that into faith, into belief what I could be, that’s what did it for me today.”

Jamaica’s Jaeden Campbell won gold in a personal best of 50.60, ahead of Japan’s Noriyuki Takano, who also set a personal best with 50.88, and Austria’s Zsombor Klucsik (51.59). Italy’s Davide Crisci was fourth and China’s Wang Tengfei fifth.

“Track is a sport where you put a number to everything, you put a label to everything, and I feel like that’s just not the way that I want us athletes to define ourselves,” Ko said.

He said what he was most proud of in Dakar was balancing his own race with supporting his friends and fellow athletes back home. “Us track athletes had the Southeast Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, and I’m just so glad to have been able to watch and support them even though we are 10 hours apart,” he said.

In Dakar, he added, Singapore’s athletes went to watch each other at table tennis, archery and gymnastics. “On one hand we’re out here to race on our own, but it is truly a team sport and we’re just here for one another.”

He thanked the team’s support staff, from the doctor’s reminders to take malaria pills to the nutritionist’s hydration tablets. “At the core of it all is love,” he said.

At Saly Beach West, Kate Teo placed 12th, ninth and 12th in races seven to nine of the women’s windsurfing opening series on 10 November and is 10th overall on 55 net points after nine races. Italy’s Laura Grasso Castagnetta leads on 13 net points.

Trevor Ng, 16, finished 10th, 11th and 11th in the men’s races seven to nine and is 12th overall on 73 net points. Greece’s Evangelos Kyriazakos leads on 8 net points after winning all three races of the day.

Races 10 to 12 are listed for 11 November, from 1.03pm Dakar time (9.03pm in Singapore) for the men and from 1.13pm (9.13pm) for the women. The opening series has 15 races and ends on 12 November.

Ashton Auw, 17, starts the men’s sabre individual in Pool 1 at the Dakar Expo Center on 13 November at 9am Dakar time (5pm in Singapore).