Spain’s IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship winner, María Asunción Batista Portero – known in the handball world as Asun Batista – has been announced as an ‘Athlete Role Model’ (ARM) for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games.

Featuring beach handball, the 2026 Youth Olympic Games will take place in Senegal from 30 October to 13 November.

Athlete Role Models are an integral part of the Youth Olympic Games, providing mentoring and workshop training to young athletes on site during the global sporting extravaganza.

“I’m incredibly excited,” said Batista to the IOC website upon the announcement of her role at Dakar 2026. “It’s an amazing chance to contribute to such an important event, support athletes on a global stage and grow both personally and professionally.

“I hope to offer the athletes consistent support, encouragement and professionalism throughout their journey in Dakar. I want to help create an environment where they feel valued, prepared and focused so they can perform at their very best.”

Batista is one of the most-decorated and respected beach handball athletes in the world and is no stranger to the Olympic movement.

Back in 2024 she was part of the IHF Beach Handball Showcase which took place on the fringes of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The 32-year-old has a long history with the sport, playing her first championship in 2011. She has represented a number of club sides but her greatest honours have come with the Spain national team.

The pivot, who also works as airline cabin crew, is a world and European gold medallist, having won the 2016 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Budapest, Hungary and the 2025 EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship in Alanya, Turkiye.

Her glittering international career has included taking home the MVP award at both the 2018 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Kazan, Russia and the 2022 edition in Heraklion, Greece, plus being voted as the best pivot at the 2023 European Championships in Nazaré, Portugal as well as being top scorer. 

In addition to her five medals at world and European level she also has podiumed at The World Games and Mediterranean Beach Games, as well as taking home numerous club titles, include the ebt Finals and Champions Cup.

And just a few months ago, she was honoured by the European Handball Federation, taking home the 2025 EHF Excellence Award in recognition of her exceptional results in beach handball competitions. She was also nominated for the award in 2023.

“What I like are the values that beach handball has transmitted to me throughout all these years. As a pivot I have always had to score goals through the passes of my teammates and that is why I always say that everything I have achieved, in large part, is thanks to them,” she said to ihf.info ahead of the Showcase. 

“And this is what this sport reflects for me; the camaraderie, the responsibility of taking care of each other, the humility that is needed to go far, the sacrifices that we have had to make to travel around and everyone doing this sport simply because of the love we have for beach handball – the discipline we have had to learn, the effort to get up from each and every fall, resilience, love and passion for what we do – they are values that I use today in all areas of my life and thanks to that, I am doing quite well.”

In total, 31 Athlete Role Models have been announced today (Thursday 16 April) for Dakar 2026:

• Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA, judo) 
• Stéphane Badji (SEN, football) 
• Christopher Bak (USA, rowing) 
• Asunción Batista (ESP, beach handball) 
• Rémy Bedu (FRA, golf) 
• Yves Bourhis (SEN, canoe slalom) 
• Jean-Pierre Bourhis (SEN, canoe slalom) 
• Darcy Bourne (GBR, hockey) 
• Douglas Brose (BRA, karate) 
• Sheila Chajira (KEN, rugby sevens) 
• Doaa Elghobashy (EGY, beach volleyball) 
• Jomana Elsaiy (EGY, shooting) 
• Ruth Gbagbi (CIV, taekwondo) 
• Sonja Greinacher (GER, basketball 3x3) 
• Zohra Nora Kehli (ALG, fencing) 
• Khadija Krimi (TUN, rowing) 
• Xiaoxiao Lai (CHN, wushu) 
• Rayssa Leal (BRA, skateboarding) 
• Vincent Luis (FRA, triathlon)  
• Jamila Lunkuse (UGA, swimming)  
• Dina Meshref (EGY, table tennis)  
• Halimah Nakaayi (UGA, athletics)  
• Kaylia Nemour (ALG, artistic gymnastics)  
• Blessing Oborududu (NGR, wrestling) 
• Forrester Osei (GHA, weightlifting)  
• Ayako Rokkaku (JPN, baseball 5, baseball/softball)  
• Edmond Sanka (SEN, canoe sprint, Para canoe)  
• Combe Seck (SEN, canoe sprint)  
• Richard Torres Jr. (USA, boxing)  
• Maja Włoszczowska (POL, cycling) 
• Shiwei Zheng (CHN, badminton)