EUGENE, OREGON, August 07 — The opening round of the 110H yielded the meet’s finest morning session mark to date, as the USA’s Le’Ezra Brown improved his American Junior Record to 12.89 (0.1), history’s second-fastest — this despite being thrown off-stride after hammering the final hurdle.
Brown — a Georgia frosh who in July placed 6th at the USATF Champs over 42-inch hurdles — was not finished. In the evening semis, despite more hurdle bashing, he ran a wind-assisted 12.82 (+2.7); only the altitude-aided World Record is faster. New HS recordman Zacchaeus Brocks followed an Asian U20 Record of 12.95 (+0.3) by Japan’s Jeremy Koga to the line in 13.00, setting the stage for a very competitive final.
But the evening’s highest accolades were earned by Emmanuel Kiprono’s 3000. After leading through a 62-second opening lap, the Kenyan blew the race open, running consecutive laps of 56-57-59 before slowing to a 61. He was 13 seconds ahead at 2000m, reached in an unimaginable 4:55.43 (4 seconds faster than Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s split en route to a European Record 3000 on this track at the ’23 Pre meet). Kiprono continued to press and finished in 7:28.28, an MR by more than 14 seconds and only 0.09 off the World Junior Record. There were no pacers, wavelights or challenging competitors for this superb effort.
“When I woke up this morning, I was feeling so good, and I knew something special was coming,” said Kiprono. “Now I will train and prepare for the 2028 Olympics.”
In another display of solo prowess, Ethiopia’s Almaz Yohannis accelerated to the front of the women’s steeplechase at 1600m and methodically widened her lead. She finished 15 seconds ahead of teammate Wosane Asefa, who was followed in turn by a slew of national records and personal bests. Yohannis’s 9:15.81 moved her to No. 8 on the all-time U20 list.
“I was relaxed. I’m not good with technique, but I’m good with speed,” she understated.
The men’s triple jump was an exciting, seesaw affair. Miles Nesmith (USA) took an early lead with a 53-6½ (16.32) effort, then fouled and inexplicably passed. China’s Zhuoyue Wang seized the opportunity and moved ahead with his 53-8¼ (16.36).
That awakened Nesmith, and he reclaimed the advantage on his fourth jump, 54-3¼ (16.54). But in the next round, Jamaican Michael-Andre Edwards, who arrived in Eugene with a PR of 53-5¾ (16.30), bounced out to 54-10 (16.71).
Game over? No. A calm Nesmith, who relies on excellent technique rather than speed, unloaded a big PR 55-1 (16.79), with a legal 1.0 wind, =No. 5 all-time U.S. U20. It was also a High School Record for the Kansas State-bound Memphis Central grad.
Edwards would not be denied. On his final attempt he excelled on all his phases and broke sand at 56-½ (17.08, wind 1.1), to seal his victory.
Edwards was reflective. “He had me in the first half, I didn’t even know I qualified [for the last 3 jumps]. After the fourth round, I got my groove.”
“I got to talk to Christian Taylor before the competition, he told me one step at a time,” said Nesmith. “He was able to spread some words of wisdom to me, so I’m thankful for him. I put in a lot of work leading up to this. I knew I had more in me, and I wanted a little bit more, but it’s still cool.”
There was less drama in the other field events, but excellent results, nevertheless. Jiawei Chen of China led the men’s hammer from his first throw for a 259-8 (79.16) win, while the U.S.’s Kayden Hulet launched a big PR 254-5 (77.55) on his final try to seize an unexpected silver medal.
Hulet, who’s headed to Ole Miss this fall from Reno’s Smith Academy also claimed a HS Record, lifting the 249-0 (75.91) standard Rudy Winkler set in ’13.
South African Jan-Hendrik Heymans was totally dominant in the men’s javelin: all six of his throws were more than 2m farther than anyone else could manage, and he finished with a 264-1 (80.50) mark, the best in the world in ’26.
Poland’s Anastazja Kuś was passed early in the women’s 400 final by the USA’s Ataja Stephane-Vazquez, but fought her way back coming out of the curve and passed her competition with 50m remaining for a 51.06–51.36 win and a new national U20 record.
“It was a crazy race, it was very hard to win. I wasn’t expecting this,” said Kuś.
The men’s 400 final was effectively a 3-person race throughout. The USA’s Jayden Deleon and Quincy Wilson were clear leaders at 200, but South African Leendert Koekemoer passed both and had a meter advantage as they entered the stretch. The Americans held their form, passed him with 40m remaining, and finished powerfully.
Deleon, a ’26 revelation, was rewarded with a new MR 44.47, ahead of Wilson’s 44.62 and Koekemoer’s 44.96.
Wilson said, “The race was a great experience. I’m happy. The next step is to go to college [at Maryland], and go to work.”
WORLD U20 DAY 3 MEN’S RESULTS
200 Heats: I(-0.4)–1. Amir Thompson (Bar) 20.49. II(-1.1)–1. Makaelan Isiah Randall Woods (Tri) 20.92. III(0.5)–1. Tomoro Ide (Jpn) 20.53 PR. IV(0.5)–1. Emile Mumenthaler (Swi) 20.62 PR. V(0.1)–1. Tate Taylor (US) 21.02. VI(-0.1)–1. Blake Hamilton (US) 20.54. VII(1.6)–1. Jayden Green (Bar) 20.58.
Semis: I(-0.5)–1. Hamilton 20.38. II(0.5)–1. Ide 20.63. III(0.4)–1. Taylor 20.34.
400: 1. Jayden Deleon (US) 44.47 PR (6, x AJ; 2, 3 HS);
2. Quincy Wilson (US) 44.62 (x, 6 HS); 3. Leendert Koekemoer (SA) 44.96; 4. Godfed Opoku (Gha) 45.46; 5. Zion Davis (Bah) 46.00; 6. Malachi Austin (Guy) 46.03.
800 Semis: I–1. Shaffin Murungi (Uga) 1:46.41 PR;… dq—Stefon Dodoo (US). II–1. Nashon Pkiach (Ken) 1:45.82 PR;… 9. Kaleb Burroughs (US) 1:51.38. III–1. Collins Tajewuo (Ken) 1:47.72.
3000: 1. Emmanuel Kiprono (Ken) 7:28.28 PR (2, 2 WJ) (61.96, 55.82 [1:57.78], 57.38 [2:55.16], 59.42 [3:54.58], 60.85 [4:55.43], 62.10 [5:57.53], 62.20 [6:59.73], 28.55);
2. Alois Abraham (Fra) 7:47.79; 3. Ojiro Honda (Jpn) 7:48.49 PR; 4. Liam Conway (GB) 7:50.10 PR; 5. Aleksi Ahlfors (Fin) 7:50.56 PR; 6. Tzu-Chieh Chien (Tai) 7:51.18 NR;…
10. Owen Powell (US) 7:53.35 PR (9, 9 AJ);
… 18. Noah Bontrager (US) 8:09.10 PR.
110H Heats: I(0.0)–1. Jahcario Wilson (Bah) 13.25 PR. II(-1.0)–1. Phenyo Miyen (SA) 13.28 PR. III(0.5)–1. Koray Uygun (Tur) 13.38. IV(0.6)–1. Ewenn Vernack (Fra) 13.22 PR.
V(0.9)–1. Zacchaeus Brocks (US) 13.11 (x, 6 HS).
VI(0.1)–1. Le’ezra Brown (US) 12.89 AJR (old AJR 12.95 Brown ’26; 2, 2 WJ).
VII(0.0)–1. Anthony Ommundsen Johnsen (Nor) 13.25.
Semis: I(2.7)–1. Brown (US) 12.82w (a-c: 2, 2 WJ; 1, 1 AJ).
II(0.9)–1. Johnsen 13.07 PR.
III(0.3)–1. Jeremy Koga (Jpn) 12.95 PR (4, =5 WJ); 2. Brocks 13.00 (x, =5 AJ; x, =2 HS).
LJ Qual: Daniele Leonardo Inzoli (Ita) 26-9 (8.15) PR; Quincy Isaac (US) 25-11½ (7.91) PR;… Carter Reckelberg (US) 22-9¾ (6.95).
TJ: 1. Michael Andre Edwards (Jam) 56-½ (17.08) PR;
2. Miles Nesmith (Central, Memphis, Tennessee) 55-1 (16.79) HSR (old HSR 54-10¼/16.72 Kenny Hall (Tara, Baton Rouge, Louisiana ’04) (=5, =10 AJ);
3. Zhuoyue Wang (Chn) 53-8¼ (16.36); 4. Francesco Efeosa Crotti (Ita) 53-3½ (16.24) PR; 5. Ziqi Cai (Chn) 52-10¾ (16.12) PR; 6. Zinga Barbosa Firmino (Bul) 52-4½ (15.96) PR.
HT: 1. Jiawei Chen (Chn) 259-8 (79.16);
2. Kayden Hulet (US) 254-5 (77.55) HSR (old HSR 249-0/75.91 Rudy Winkler {Averill, New York} ’13) (2, 9 AJ) (12lb—5, 11 HS) (f, 232-2, 241-10 [7, x AJ], f, 245-0 [6, x AJ], 254-5) (f, 70.76, 73.71, f, 74.68, 77.55);
3. Wyatt Larkins (GB) 247-4 (75.38) PR; 4. Ibrahim Abdelrahman (Qat) 240-8 (73.36); 5. Apóstolos Tzamtzís (Gre) 236-10 (72.20) PR; 6. Max Baier (Ger) 236-10 (72.18) PR.
JT: 1. Jan-Hendrik Heymans (SA) 264-1 (80.50) PR; 2. Ashish Yadav (Ind) 243-1 (74.09); 3. Addison Alickson James (Dom) 242-5 (73.89) NR; 4. Mohamed Osama Hassan (Egy) 242-0 (73.77) PR; 5. Zhaoyi Yang (Chn) 239-0 (72.86); 6. T. Dharanidharan (Ind) 237-4 (72.35).
WORLD U20 WOMEN DAY 3 RESULTS
200 Heats: I(0.5)–1. Sashana Johnson (Jam) 22.95 PR. II(0.8)–1. Mia Maxwell (US) 23.30. III(-0.3)–1. Shanoya Douglas (Jam) 22.88. IV(0.1)–1. Sophie Thomas (GB) 23.53. V(-0.8)–1. Filippa Engström (Swe) 23.50 PR. VI(0.3)–1. Rume Burger (SA) 23.17 PR. VII(1.1)–1. Success Oyibu (Ngr) 23.04. VIII(0.0)–1. Mariah Maxwell (US) 23.37. IX(-0.5)–1. Oluebube Miracle Ezechukwu (Ngr) 23.34.
Semis: I(1.2)–1. Mi. Maxwell 22.87. II(0.5)–1. Douglas 22.53; 2. Ma. Maxwell 22.78. III(0.3)–1. Success Oyibu (Ngr) 23.13.
400: 1. Anastazja Kuś (Pol) 51.06 PR; 2. Ataja Stephane-Vazquez (US) 51.36; 3. Tianna Springer (Guy) 51.76; 4. Lenka Gymerská (Svk) 52.37 PR; 5. Maša Medjimurec (Slo) 52.37 PR; 6. Kadia Rock (Bar) 52.42; 7. Clara Adams (US) 52.76.
800 Semis: I–1. Živa Remic (Slo) 2:04.32;… 5. Ellie Barada (US) 2:05.06. II–1. Paige Sheppard (US) 2:01.97. III–1. Shaikira King (GB) 2:02.93.
St: 1. Bude Almaz Yohannis (Eth) 9:15.81 PR (8, x WJ);
2. Wosane Asefa (Eth) 9:30.50; 3. Anatasha Langat (Ken) 9:37.18; 4. Majken Söderlund Larsson (Swe) 9:48.01 PR; 5. Ema Berková (CzR) 9:49.06 PR; 6. Fanny Szalkai (Swe) 9:55.06 PR;… 14. Sierra Wall (US) 10:21.21.
100H Heats: I(0.6)–1. Alessia Succo (Ita) 13.27. II(0.7)–1. Jil Sanchez (Swi) 13.40. III(0.1)–1. Daryl Ndasi (Ger) 13.20. IV(0.1)–1. Maddi Cooper (US) 13.36. V(-0.1)–1. Tumi Ramokgopa (SA) 13.16. VI(0.3)–1. Tiana Marshall (Jam) 13.10. VII(0.5)–1. Hana Sekne (Slo) 13.31; 2. Tori Goodson (US) 13.36.
Semis: I(0.1)–1. Marshall 13.02;… 3. Cooper 13.14. II(0.5)–1. Ramokgopa 13.02. III(0.9)–1. Ndasi 13.10 PR; 2. Goodson 13.16.
HJ Qual: Bailey Hensgens (US) & Brianna Rivers (US) 5-10½ (1.79).
HT Qual: Burklie Burton (US) 223-2 (68.03) PR (2, 2 AJ);
… Meagan Ewers (US) 197-9 (60.27).
JT Qual: Vita Barbić (Cro) 184-8 (56.29);… Emily Harbach (US) 173-10 (52.98);… Sophia Mazzoni (US) 165-1 (50.33).
