The Tribune

DAKAR, Senegal — Junior national records fell like dominoes, as Christon Joseph provided Complexe Tour de L’Oeuf with a day filled with drama at Dakar 2026.

Just two days before, Joseph had set a new junior national record in the men’s 100-metre freestyle. 

Today, the student of Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, broke a national record twice in the same day as he competed in the Youth Olympic Games. 

First, he eclipsed the 50-metre freestyle record previously held by Izaak Bastian while swimming in the final heat - Heat 7.

With a time of 23.67 seconds, Joseph surpassed Bastian’s record of 24.56 (13/14 years) from 2016. 

The time also forced a swim-off between Joseph and Nigerian swimmer Kashope Obatoyinbo, who finished Heat 5 with the same time. Spectators were treated to an action-packed swim-off in which Joseph led by a narrow margin until within the last second. 

As the athletes made their final reach for the wall, Obatoyinbo touched just 0.01 seconds before Joseph. 

Obatoyinbo’s time was clocked at 23.55 seconds. Joseph’s 23.56 dropped him out of the finals, but earned him an even faster national record. After a day in which he made two personal best times, Joseph is poised to finish his Youth Olympic Games on Thursday with a 50-metres breaststroke finale. Meanwhile, Saleste Gibson celebrated her 16th birthday at the Youth Olympic Games with a 16th-place finish out of 40 swimmers in the women’s 50-metre butterfly. She will complete her Youth Olympics with an appearance in the women’s 200-metre freestyle on Friday.