Road to Dakar 2026: Baseball5 to make multi-sport-event debut at Junior Bolivarian Games Sucre 2024

The road to the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 for Baseball5 will begin in South America on April 4 with the opening day of the Youth Bolivarian Games Sucre 2024. World No. 17 Venezuela, alongside hosts Bolivia and Peru, will compete in the three-day event in Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital, marking Baseball5's debut in a multi-sport event.

Sucre 2024, the inaugural edition of the Youth Bolivarian Games, represents South America's first regional multi-sport event in the four-year cycle leading up to the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026.

The following year, San Luis, Argentina, will host the Junior South American Games, while Asuncion will organize the Junior Pan American Games. The qualification process for Dakar 2026 is still to be determined.

The Baseball5 competition at Sucre 2024 will take place at the Garcilazo Sports Complex Baseball5 diamond from April 4 to 6.

Venezuela, the only world ranked team in the Bolivarian Games after earning 905 points in the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup 2022, is in the process of finalizing their roster for the regional event.

Bolivia finalized their preliminary roster in November 2023, following a successful National Championship held in Oruro with five participating teams. Baseball5 was introduced to the nation in June 2023, with an introductory course organised in Sucre by the Bolivian National Olympic Committee, with support from the WBSC.

Peru began their training camp for the Junior Bolivarian Games this past week in Victoria, organized by the Peruvian Baseball Federation. A total of 17 players were selected to participate in the selection process, which will culminate in the formation of Peru's first-ever Baseball5 National Team to represent the country at an international event.

South America was the host of the first ever WBSC international Baseball5 tournament with the Open of the Americas in Cartagena de Las Indians, Colombia in 2019.