Wushu athlete Miranda Wei of Calgary, Alberta and rugby sevens player Adam Burnett of Toronto, Ontario have been named the Canadian flag bearers for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games which begins in Dakar, Senegal on Saturday. This is the first time that a Youth Olympic Games will have taken place on the continent of Africa. The Summer Youth Olympic Games are for athletes aged between 14 and 18.
There will be 28 Canadians competing in 10 sports. In addition to the sports of rugby and wushu, Canadians will compete in the sports of archery, gymnastics, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, fencing, judo, and skateboarding.
This is the first time that wushu has been part of the Summer Youth Olympic Games. It is a sport that is not part of the Olympic program. Wushu is actually one of seven sports at the Summer Youth Olympic Games not part of the regular Olympic Summer Games. The other six are Baseball 5, beach handball, beach wrestling, breakdancing, coastal rowing and futsal. Another term for wushu is kung fu, which is a Chinese martial art.
Wei is one of Canada’s top wushu athletes. At the 2026 World Taijiquan Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria this past April, Wei won three medals (two gold medals and one bronze medal).
Canada is one of eight nations competing in the men’s rugby sevens tournament at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games. They are in Group A with Germany, Senegal and South Africa. Group B consists of France, Argentina, Uganda and Japan.
