On your marks… Five days of action in World Athletics Championships U20, Lima 24 begins on Tuesday (27th), when around 1,700 athletes from more than 130 teams will compete for the awards in their age groups.
Here are just three of the many things to consider on your first day at Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
The first champion is crowned
On the first day of competition in Lima, four finals will take place and the first champion to be crowned will be the winner of the women’s 5000 m.
Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa is defending the title she won in Cali in 2022, having just finished seventh at the Olympics. She goes into the race as the favourite after running 14:16.54 in London last year – the fastest time ever achieved by an under-20 athlete – and winning at the Marrakech Diamond League in May.
Her biggest threat is likely to be fellow countrywoman Mekedes Alemeshete, who won the Suzhou Diamond League in April with a time of 14:36.70. Other medal contenders include Kenyans Sheila Jebet and Mercy Chepkemoi.
The title of the men’s 5000 m race will also be decided on the first day. The list of participants is led by Kenyan Andrew Kiptoo Alamisi.
Preview of the distance events WU20 Lima 24
Field focus on the shot put
The first field final of the championship is the men’s shot put, an event that features Dutch U20 record holder Yannick Rolvink, who leads the entry list by more than a metre. He threw 21.81m with the 6kg implement last month and has broken the 19m mark in eight other events this year.
He is hard to beat when on top form, but US U20 champion Ben Smith is chasing another medal for his country after fellow countryman Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan won the title in Cali two years ago. Others with medal ambitions, if they all safely make it through qualifying, include Germany’s Georg Harpf and Finland’s Aatu Kangasniemi.
WU20 Lima 24 gives event preview
Through teamwork, dreams come true
Two years ago in Cali, the USA set a U20 world best of 3:17.69 to win the mixed 4x400m race, and given the nation’s strength in both the women’s and men’s events in Lima, they will likely be the team to beat here too.
The exact teams will be confirmed after the heats on Tuesday morning. Potential members of the US team include 400m runners Michaela Mouton and Zaya Akins and 400m hurdlers Braelyn Baker and Jasmine Robertson, as well as Jayden Davis, Sidi Njie, Vance Nilsson and Jonathan Frazier.
Chasing another medal is India, which won silver in Cali and bronze at the inaugural event of the discipline at the 2021 U20 World Championships in Nairobi.
Paris Olympians Alana Reid and Bradley Nkoana began individual sprinting earlier in the day and will take part in the 100-meter heats, among others.
Nkoana was part of the South African men’s 4x100m team that won the silver medal in Paris, while Reid helped Jamaica finish fifth in the women’s 4x100m.
Preview of the U20 women’s relays in Lima 2024
