EUGENE, OREGON, August 08 — Speed, strength and endurance are characteristics of these Championships, and on day 4, the main word was definitely speed.
First up was the new mixed 4 x 100 relay, a close race between Great Britain, the USA and Jamaica — that is, until 100 bronze medalist Kelly Ann Doualla took the baton for Italy and blasted past the others for a 41.21 win. The time will stand as the first U20 record for the event.
Next was the men’s 800, wherein Ugandan Shafeck Murungi tried to steal the race with a blazing 49.17 opening 400. All for naught. By 500, his tank was nearly empty, leaving Imad Bouchajda (Morocco) and Daniel Williams (Australia) to fight for the win. Bouchajda proved the stronger of the two, extending a 5-foot advantage at 600 with a 28.0 final furlong for a 1:44.64 to 1:45.36 victory.
By contrast, the women settled for a much more mundane pace, resulting in a mad homestretch scramble won by Slovenia’s 16-year-old Živa Remic in 2:03.03 from Greek Ioulianna Roussou (2:03.08) and Britain’s Shakira King (2:03.52).
100 hurdlers Tiana Marshall of Jamaica and Swiss Jil Sanchez looked best in the qualifying rounds, but in the final, the USA’s Madeline Cooper, a Georgia frosh, ran a perfect race from lane 2 and was never headed, winning in 12.91 (wind -0.2) from a shocked Tumi Ramokgopa (South Africa), 12.96, Marshall 12.97 and Sanchez 13.03.
Cooper said later, “In the rounds I was tired and getting beat but now in the final I believed in myself, my coaches, and my abilities, and I became a dog and ran hard.”
This set the stage for what was unquestionably the greatest U20 men’s 110 hurdle race in history. The USA’s Le’Ezra Brown, another Georgia Bulldog, was favored, and he justified it. At the first hurdle, he trailed teammate Zacchaeus Brocks and Japan’s Jeremy Koga very slightly. By the second, he had pulled even, and for the next five, he and Brocks were very close, ahead of the rest.
From hurdle 7 on, Brown’s strength and speed between the barriers made the difference, and even though he bashed hurdle 9, he was not to be caught, and crossed the line in a World-Record-equaling 12.72 (wind +0.7).
Behind him, the times were remarkable. A disappointed Koga closed fast for a 12.97, ahead of Brocks’ 12.98, which tied his PR from his June HS record. Norway’s Anthony Johnsen ran 13.00 for no medal; he and the next three finishers set national records. 8th place was 13.26.
Brown reflected on his achievement. “It is crazy. I felt it in my warmup. I did one acceleration and my coach told me I was ready. I was running good and I just knew it was going to happen. It [the WR] is big, we have been talking about this for some time. I want to be running at LA 28.”
Next up in the speed category was the men’s 200, a final with a prohibitive favorite. Tate Taylor was inches behind teammate Blake Hamilton at 100 meters, reached in 10.46. Then the 100 winner shifted gears and entered Taylor Territory, where no other sprinters are allowed. Improving his margin with every stride, he finished in a championship record 19.83 (+0.1 wind), far ahead of Hamilton (20.31) and the others.
Said the Texas Tech-bound Taylor, “I am super proud of myself and this team and the guy next to me [Hamilton]. I am not planning on running the Ultimate meet. I am going to concentrate on college.”
In the women’s 200, as in the 100, list-leader Shanoya Douglas (Jamaica) found herself in a lane bracketed by the Maxwell twins. Out well, she ran a strong curve and matched strides with Mia Maxwell for 140 meters. But the American was not beatable on this evening, and methodically pulled away to win in 22.37, a PR. Douglas again had to settle for 2nd (22.68), this time ahead of Mariah Maxwell (22.77).
Afterward, Mia said, “At the beginning of the year, I was going through mental and physical struggles, so to have this moment and share it with my family is really special.”
Ugandan 5000 winner Charity Cherop took the lead at the 2K mark in the women’s 3000, but this time she was unable to pull away. Ethiopians Yordanos Tsigab and Shito Gumi waited until the last 100 meters to pounce, and when they did, Cherop had no answer. Tsigab prevailed, in 8:43.65, from Gumi (8:45.06) and Cherop (8:45.59).
A true test of endurance, the men’s decathlon, was won by Swede Liam Belo da Silva, who produced meet records in the high jump and discus en route to a world-leading 8112 points. Following him at a distance were Mikai Snoek (Netherlands) and Adam Julis (Czechia), with PRs of 7887 and 7877, respectively.
“I injured my heel coming into this competition, but the medical team said I could compete. It was a lot of pain, but I persevered. After the vault, I was confident I would win. I just want to settle down into this moment,” said da Silva.
Italian Daniele Inzoli cemented his nation’s place at the head of current men’s long jumping, joining Mattia Furlani as a world champion after barely surviving last-jump heroics by Australia’s Mason McGroder, 26-1¾ (7.97) to 26-1½ (7.96).
In the morning session, Australia’s Commonwealth Games champion Isaac Beacroft established a new World U20 Record for the 5000m racewalk (18:40.37), just ahead of China’s Huajia Pu(18:43.70). The women’s race was won by Serena Di Fabio of Italy in 20:57.57.
WORLD U20 DAY 4 MEN’S RESULTS
200(0.1): 1. Tate Taylor (US) 19.83 (x, 10 WJ; x, 9 AJ; x, 2 HS);
2. Blake Hamilton (US) 20.31; 3. Jayden Green (Bar) 20.55; 4. Makaelan Isiah Randall Woods (Tri) 20.58; 5. Tomoro Ide (Jpn) 20.67; 6. Gary Card (Jam) 20.74.
800: 1. Imad Bouchajda (Mor) 1:44.64; 2. Daniel Williams (Aus) 1:45.36; 3. Alejandro Rios (Spa) 1:46.25 PR; 4. Benjamin Lakošeljac (Slo) 1:46.81; 5. Collins Tajewuo (Ken) 1:48.50; 6. Nashon Pkiach (Ken) 1:49.49.
110H(0.7): 1. Le’Ezra Brown (US) 12.72 =WJR, AR (=WJR 12.72 Sasha Zhoya [Fra] ’21; old AJR 12.89 Brown in heats);
2. Jeremy Koga (Jpn) 12.97 (x, 10 WJ); 3. Zacchaeus Brocks (US) 12.98 =PR, =HSR (x, =4 AJ); 4. Anthony Ommundsen Johnsen (Nor) 13.00 PR (=10, x WJ);
5. Jahcario Wilson (Bah) 13.08 PR; 6. Odair Goncalves (Bra) 13.15 PR.
400H Semis: I–1. Miller Warme (US) 49.48 (x, 6 HS). II–1. Michal Rada (CzR) 49.67. III–1. Taiju Goto (Jpn) 49.19;… 3. Keenen Davis (US) 50.47.
5000W: 1. Isaac Beacroft (Aus) 18:40.37 WJR (old WJR 18:43.37 Nitin Gupta [Ind], ’26);
4 x 100 Heats: I–1. Jamaica 39.51. II–1. Trinidad 39.40. III–1. Great Britain 39.38.
IV–1. United States 38.87 (x, 7 WJ; x, 5 AJ) (Jayson Smith, Dillon Mitchell, Kyler Brown, Auralleus Hicks).
4 x 400 Heats: I–1. Botswana 3:08.22. II–1. Australia 3:07.04. III–1. United States 3:04.55 (Ade Lloyd, Cameron Tucker, Carlo Johnson, Alexander Osayemi).
HJ: 1. Younes Ayachi (Alg) 7-3 (2.21); 2. Basant (Ind) 7-3 =PR; 3. Otis Poole (GB) 7-3 =PR; 4. Maddox Krotzer (US) 7-1½ (2.17); 5. Samuel James (GB) 7-1½; 5. Charalampos Alivizatos (Gre) 7-1½ PR.
LJ: 1. Daniele Leonardo Inzoli (Ita) 26-1¾ (7.97); 2. Mason McGroder (Aus) 26-1½ (7.96) PR; 3. Shahnavaz Khan (Ind) 25-8¾ (7.84); 4. Quincy Isaac (US) 25-6¾ (7.79); 5. Eito Omori (Jpn) 25-5½ (7.76) PR; 6. Adam Bilokon (Ukr) 25-5¼ (7.75).
DT Qual: Stefan Gaisbauer (Aut) 207-0 (63.11) PR;… Simon Rosselli (US) 199-7 (60.84);… Chris Marcell (US) 196-4 (59.85).
Dec: 1. Liam Belo Da Silva (Swe) 8112 PR (11.25, 23-½/7.02, 50-10¼/15.50, 7-½/2.15, 50.95, 15.12, 170-5/51.95, 15-9/4.80, 183-2/55.83, 4:39.51); 2. Mikai Snoek (Neth) 7887 PR; 3. Adam Juliš (CzR) 7877 PR; 4. Kilian Trochain (Fra) 7856 PR; 5. David Berglund (Swe) 7700 PR; 6. Daniel von der Heyden (SA) 7696 PR;… 13. Brody Foster (US) 7374;… 28. Darius Jones (US) 5698 (nh PV).
WORLD U20 DAY 4 WOMEN’S RESULTS
200(-0.2): 1. Mia Maxwell (US) 22.37 PR (HSL) (5, x AJ; 4, 4 HS);
2. Shanoya Douglas (Jam) 22.68; 3. Mariah Maxwell (US) 22.77; 4. Sashana Johnson (Jam) 23.17; 5. Success Oyibu (Ngr) 23.27; 6. Margherita Castellani (Ita) 23.28.
800: 1. Živa Remic (Slo) 2:03.03; 2. Ioulianna Roussou (Gre) 2:03.08; 3. Shaikira King (GB) 2:03.52; 4. Habtam Gebeyehu (Eth) 2:03.99; 5. Rin Kubo (Jpn) 2:04.00; 6. Chloe Symon (Can) 2:04.24;… 8. Paige Sheppard (US) 2:06.94.
3000: 1. Yordanos Tsigab (Eth) 8:43.65 PR; 2. Shito Gumi (Eth) 8:45.06 PR; 3. Charity Cherop (Uga) 8:45.59; 4. Carmen Cernjul (Swe) 8:52.60 NU20R PR; 5. Yuua Nagamori (Jpn) 8:56.93 PR; 6. Mercy Mageso (Ken) 8:57.43 PR;… 21. Chiara Dailey (US) 9:24.92.
100H(-0.2): 1. Maddi Cooper (US) 12.91 =PR; 2. Tumi Ramokgopa (SA) 12.96; 3. Tiana Marshall (Jam) 12.97 =PR; 4. Jil Sanchez (Swi) 13.03; 5. Daryl Ndasi (Ger) 13.11; 6. Alessia Succo (Ita) 13.19;… 9. Tori Goodson (US) 13.34.
400H Semis: I–1. Alexandra Ștefania Uță (Rom) 56.87. II–1. Tumi Ramokgopa (SA) 56.80;… 9. Natalie Dumas (US) 1:11.76. III–1. Mariam Kareem (UAE) 56.39 NR;… 6. Tatum Lynn (US) 58.84.
5000W: 1. Serena Di Fabio (Ita) 20:57.57; 2. Chloe Le Roch (Fra) 21:17.92 PR; 3. Yutong Yang (Chn) 21:31.99 PR; 4. Ibuki Hori (Jpn) 21:36.62 PR; 5. Harumi Tabata (Jpn) 21:57.99 PR; 6. Beatrice Palmonari (Ita) 21:59.41 PR;… 37. Grace Wagener (US) 25:39.29.
4 x 100 Heats: I–1. Switzerland 43.99. II–1. Germany 44.09.
III–1. Australia 43.44 (=#5 nation);
… 4. United States 43.67 (Maddi Cooper, Ava Kitchings, Sanyah Keeton, Naiaja Sizemore).
4 x 400 Heats: I–1. United States 3:32.66 (Ashtyn Lewis, Taylor Nicole Overton, Sydney Kuhn, Olivia Harris). II–1. Italy 3:33.63. III–1. Germany 3:34.35.
PV: 1. Nicole Krutilová (CzR) 14-7¼ (4.45); 2. Olha Belchenko (Ukr) 14-5¼ (4.40) =PR; 3. Kylie Neira (US) 14-3¼ (4.35) PR;… 12. Katie Blue (US) 12-11½ (3.95).
TJ Qual: Daria Vrinceanu (Rom) 44-7½ (13.60);… Shi’eana Hall (US) 42-8 (13.00);… dnq—D’Anna Cotton (US) 42-7½ (12.99).
MIXED 4 x 100
1. Italy 41.21 WJR (Galvan, Valensin, Pagliarini, Doualla Edimo);
2. Great Britain 41.38 (2, 2 WJ) (Iheme, Morgan, Ajayi, Thomas); 3. United States 41.39 AJR (3, 3 WJ) (Lugo, Taylor, Altheimer, Kitchings); 4. Jamaica 41.92 (6, 10 WJ) (Stewart, East, Morgan, Edwards); 5. Germany 42.03 (7, x WJ) (Bauerschlag, Anochili, Mawumba, Domingos); 6. Poland 42.17 (10, x W)(Latkowski, Jeż, Sarlej, Gondek).
Heats(08/06): I–1. Australia 41.64. II–1. Great Britain 41.60. III–1. United States 41.82.
