The African charge continued on the penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi as Botswana revealed more of the exciting sprinting talent it has coming down the pipeline.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m final on Saturday (21),&nbsp;Anthony Pesela&nbsp;came from fourth place at the turn with an irresistible surge in the home straight to seal the southern African nation&rsquo;s best ever showing at this level of championship competition.
His teammate Letsile Tebogo had opened Botswana&rsquo;s account with victory in the 100m and backed that up to win the silver medal in the 200m today to give their team two golds and a silver medal from the individual men&rsquo;s sprints. It was just a shame that Botswana&rsquo;s 4x100m relay team was disqualified for a false start in the heats earlier in the day.
Previously the Batswani had won just one gold medal in their history at the World U20 Championships, with Nijel Amos&rsquo; win over 800m in 2012. 
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 Pesela, 19, was an alternate on Botswana&rsquo;s Olympic 4x400m relay team this year but didn&rsquo;t have the opportunity to run in Tokyo. However he made up for that disappointment in Nairobi, running a remarkably mature race to secure the gold medal.
South African favourite Lythe Pillay roared past him in the inside lane in the first 150m, but Pesela&nbsp;remained relaxed and waited to unleash his impressive finish.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t panic, I knew that I had a strong last 100m," Pesela&nbsp;said.
So strong that he improved his personal best by more than a second in the final, clocking a championship record of 44.58 to win comfortably from Mexico&rsquo;s Luis Aviles Ferreiro in a national U20 record of 44.95 and South Africa&rsquo;s Antonie Nortje, in a personal best of 45.32. Pillay faded to fourth place.
By the end of the session, Pesela&rsquo;s teammates were singing and dancing in the grandstands, overjoyed by the performance of their team here.
Earlier, another Tokyo Olympian, Nigeria&rsquo;s 17-year-old pocket rocket Imaobong Uko, secured her first individual world title in a personal best of 51.55. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210bb0c974868a2c287e5f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Uko was a member of the Nigerian mixed 4x400m team in Tokyo, and won her first gold medal with her team in the mixed 4x400m relay on the opening day of these championships. &nbsp;
Poland&rsquo;s&nbsp;Kornelia Lesiewicz&nbsp;came through to win the silver medal in a personal best time (51.97), while Kenya&rsquo;s surprise packet Sylvia Chelangat slashed three seconds from her PB during the course of the event to secure the bronze medal (52.23).&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable that I am a two-time gold medallist in this competition," Uko said. &ldquo;I followed my coach's advice to hit it hard from the very beginning. Now I&rsquo;m going home with a gold medal and a new PB.&rdquo;
Given her relative youth, she will have the opportunity to defend her title at the next World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, next year.
Chelangat, also 17, said that she was delighted to win a medal over 400m but that her future would lie with the 800m.
The future of Kenyan middle distance running looks secure after world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot&rsquo;s young training partner Vincent Keter claimed the world U20 title over 1500m today. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210570bd4db24fea17aecf.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Keter, 19, who trains with Cheruiyot under coach Bernard Ouma at the Rongai Athletics Club, has clearly adopted the front-running style of his mentor Cheruiyot.
He took the lead with 600m to go and attacked at the bell, stretching his advantage to some four metres down the back straight, and holding the lead to the finish line, stopping the clock in 3:37.24.
&ldquo;I used Timothy&rsquo;s tactics," he said.
&ldquo;He is a world champion and now I am a world champion.&rdquo;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Wegene Addisu came through to win the silver medal in 3:37.86 with his compatriot Melkeneh Azize claiming the bronze (3:40.22). Kenya&rsquo;a Kamar Etiang, third across the finish line after carrying a leg injury into the race, was disqualified for stepping inside the kerb on the bend during the race.
The East African dominance of the middle distance continued in the women&rsquo;s 800m final where Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ayal Dagnachew put on an exhibition, winning by more than a second in 2:02.96. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210837bd4db24fea17aed2.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Switzerland&rsquo;s Valentina Rosamilia came through to claim the silver medal (2:04.29) from Greece&rsquo;s Elli Deligianni (2:04.66).
In the men&rsquo;s 800m semifinals, Kenyan athletes again prevailed. Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the first qualifying race comfortably in 1:46.16, more than a second ahead of Algeria&rsquo;s Mohamed Ali Gouaned (1:47.35) and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Daniel Wolde (1:47.53). In the second semifinal, another 17-year-old Kenyan Noah Kibet was fastest (1:46.47), holding of Czech runner Jakub Davidik (1:46.59, national U20 record) and Canadian Abduallah Hassan (1:46.89).
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

The African charge continued on the penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi as Botswana revealed more of the exciting sprinting talent it has coming down the pipeline.

Pesela puts on a show as part of African charge in Nairobi

For one proud race walking nation, this was proof their production line of talent is in full working order. For another nation, one long synonymous with endurance champions, it signalled a bright new dawn in a discipline where gold medals had once seemed a remote possibility.&nbsp;
At the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21&nbsp;on Saturday morning (21), Mexico&rsquo;s Sofia Ramos Rodriguez and Kenya&rsquo;s Heristone Wanyonyi etched their names into athletics history by taking the 10,000m race walk titles with a pair of commanding performances.&nbsp;
For Wanyonyi, this was a momentous victory &ndash; Kenya&rsquo;s first ever race walk medal at the championships, and while it was clear a long way out from the finish that drought was about to end, the 18-year-old fought with every fibre of his being to make sure it would do so with gold.&nbsp;
The race got off to a swift start with France&rsquo;s Dimitri Durand and authorised neutral athlete Dmitriy Gramachkov breaking clear of the field and passing 3000m in 12:59.92. Wanyonyi was biding his time in the pack at that point, but he led the chase and ensured the field was back together at the halfway mark, passed in 21:30.12 with Gramachkov out front. Durand and Wanyonyi traded the lead for a while before a strong move from India&rsquo;s Amit split the pack.&nbsp;
Coming into the last three laps, it was down to just Amit and Wanyonyi in the race for gold, and Amit led on the penultimate lap before surrendering the lead to Wanyonyi as the Indian moved out to grab water with just over 600 metres remaining. It was a lead Wanyonyi never relinquished, powering away over the final lap to hit the line in a PB of 42:10.84, with Amit taking silver in 42:17.94 and Spain&rsquo;s Paul McGrath winning bronze in 42:26.11.&nbsp; 
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 &ldquo;I was inspired by Dominic Ndigiti who won bronze for Kenya during the World U18 Championships (in 2017),&rdquo; said Wanyonyi. &ldquo;What he did opened the way for most of us who love race walking. Becoming a world champion is testament that Kenyan athletes are diverse. This victory is not only mine but for the country at large.&rdquo;
Amit was content with silver, having struggled with the cool conditions and thin air of Nairobi since his arrival earlier this week. &ldquo;At some point in the race I couldn&rsquo;t breathe properly but I am happy,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
McGrath&rsquo;s bronze capped a fine summer after already winning the European U20 title. &ldquo;By halfway I thought I could only make it to fourth or fifth place but the last two kilometres I had the strength to push further,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s race proved a far less competitive affair, but was defined by the individual brilliance of Sofia Ramos Rodriguez who became Mexico&rsquo;s fifth race walk champion in the event&rsquo;s history, with seven of Mexico&rsquo;s nine medals at the championships coming in the 10,000m race walks.&nbsp;
She coasted through the opening 3000m among a pack of eight but soon after she began to turn the screw on her rivals, surging to build a seven-second lead at halfway, which she reached in 23:28.88. That grew to 30 seconds by 6000m and almost a minute by 8000m, with Rodriguez hitting the line with 80 seconds to spare in 46:23.01. France&rsquo;s Maele Bire-Heslouis came through for silver in 47:43.87 with Czech Republic&rsquo;s Eliska Martinkova taking bronze in 47:46.28.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There is a lot of tradition in race walking in Mexico and I am very happy to continue with this,&rdquo; said Rodriguez. &ldquo;I&nbsp;have been working really hard.&nbsp;There are days where you don&rsquo;t feel like training but all these efforts have now been worth it. My next big event will be the Pan American U20 Games at the end of November and after that I will start getting ready for next season with the 2022 World Race Walking Team Championships.&rdquo;
After eight events in the decathlon, Belgium&rsquo;s Jente Hauttekeete holds a 50-point advantage over Czech Republic&rsquo;s Frantisek Doubek with 6816 to Doubek&rsquo;s 6766. Spain&rsquo;s Jose San Pastor is in third with 6299 points.
Hauttekeete started his day with a 13.95-second clocking in the 110m hurdles to extend his overnight lead and he followed up with a 41.47m effort in the discus and a 4.50m clearance in the pole vault. Doubek clocked 14.10 in the 110m hurdles, threw 45.64m in the discus and had a personal best of 4.80m in the pole vault.&nbsp;
In men&rsquo;s discus qualification, Lithuania&rsquo;s Mykolas Alekna produced the biggest throw of the morning, his 64.04m opener well beyond the automatic qualifying mark of 58.00m. Next best was Jamaica&rsquo;s Ralford Mullings with 62.49m, with Uladzislau Puchko of Belarus throwing 61.08m and Iran&rsquo;s Sadegh Samimishalamzari 61.01m.&nbsp;
Kenya displayed their growing sprinting strength in the heats of the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay, overpowering Jamaica down the home straight to advance as the quickest qualifiers for the final in 3:05.77. Nigeria won the first heat in 3:06.70 ahead of an inspired Ecuador, who clocked a national U20 record of 3:06.94 in second &ndash; third-leg runner Steeven Salas clocking the fastest split of the day with 45.85.&nbsp;
Poland produced a stunning effort in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m relay heats, their quartet of Dominik Luczynski, Patryk Krupa, Jakub Pietrusa and Oliwer Wdowik smashing the European U20 record to win in 38.93, taking 0.20 off the mark set by Germany in 2016. Jamaica was close behind in second with 39.00, while Nigeria clocked an African U20 record in third of 39.33. That record was equalled in the second heat by South Africa, who took victory ahead of Italy (39.56) and Greece (40.13).
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

For one proud race walking nation, this was proof their production line of talent is in full working order. For another nation, one long synonymous with endurance champions, it signalled a bright new dawn in a discipline.

Ramos Rodriguez and Wanyonyi make race walk history in Nairobi

A world U20 lead, a national record, a personal best: all three podium finishers in the men&rsquo;s long jump ended the evening with more than their medals to draw the curtain on a dramatic and captivating competition on Friday (20) at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
It was an outstanding evening for the French team following Sasha Zhoya&rsquo;s spectacular record-breaking achievement in the 110m hurdles at the Kasarani Stadium, a feat which no doubt inspired European U20 long jump bronze medalist Erwan Konate to soar past eight metres for the first time in his career. Setting a world U20 lead of 8.12m (0.4m/s), the mark makes him the first athlete in his age group to jump further than eight metres in 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Colombia&rsquo;s Jhon Andres Berrio proved a worthy competitor and nearly reached the eight-metre mark, leaping to a national U20 record of 7.97m which he got at his very first attempt of the evening. The 19-year-old had hoped to improve on the mark as the competition progressed but was only able to manage jumps of 7.11m, 7.59m, 7.38m, 7.64m and 7.68m subsequently.
Jamaican youngster Kavian Kerr, who came to Nairobi with a lifetime best of 7.81m, added 9cm to his mark, starting off his series with 7.14m, then recording a no-jump on his second attempt before launching to his personal best. 
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 Speaking afterwards, Konate said: &ldquo;It is a fantastic feeling becoming a world champion at 18 years old. This is one of the events we consider ours as French people and I am happy things are going my way. I wanted to be the first 18-year-old junior to pass the eight-metre mark. Next year I will try to set the world record at 8.35m (held by Russian Sergey Morgunov since 2012). It's quite ambitious, but nothing is impossible. I will work for that."
Not everyone can foul on three out of six attempts and still go ahead to win gold, but three throws were all it took Jan Dolezalek to win the men&rsquo;s hammer throw (6kg). The 19-year-old missed his first, third and sixth attempts.
Eventual bronze medal winner Jean Baptiste Bruxelle initially led the field with his first-round throw of 75.86m, improving it to 77.70m in the next round. Greece&rsquo;s Oretis Ntousakis overtook him by the third round with his superior effort of 77.78m which eventually earned him the silver.
Opening his campaign with 77.35m in the second round, Dolezalek had to dig deep to produce his best throw of the night which turned out to be a national U20 record of 77.83m which gave him the gold. European U20 champion Dawid Pilat was knocked off a medal position, finishing fourth with 77.09m.
Meanwhile, Swedish sensation Maja Askag upgraded from European U20 triple jump champion to world U20 champion after leaving her best jump for last, winning her first global title with a jump of 13.75m to maintain her unbeaten run in the triple jump this season.
Although her winning distance may not have been as far as her lifetime best of 14.05m with which she won the European title in Tallinn, the 18-year-old was happy win the win, especially as she aims to do the &lsquo;double double&rsquo;, having already claimed both the long and triple jump titles at the European U20 Championships &ndash; the second woman in history to achieve such a feat.
She said: &ldquo;It means everything. I am honored being here representing Sweden. It has been a long season, that is why the victory is sweeter. It was also good to push each other to achieve longer lengths and for that I am happy. This gold medal further gives me motivation ahead of my long jump final on Sunday.&rdquo; 
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 Spain&rsquo;s Tessy Ebosele set a lifetime best of 13.63m to take silver, adding it to the silver medal she won in the long jump in Tallinn, and just like Askag, will be aiming to finish on the podium in the long jump as well. Darja Sopova won the bronze for Latvia with 13.60m.
Finland&rsquo;s Janne Laspa was the man to beat in the javelin throw, upstaging Nigerian Chinecherem Nnamdi who had topped the qualification rounds with 78.02m. On this day however, it was Laspa who did just enough to get the gold with his best throw of 76.46m recorded on his third attempt. He switched positions with Ukraine&rsquo;s Arthur Felfner who had finished ahead of him in the qualifying rounds, with the latter having to settle for second place this time around with 76.32m.
The Nigerian took the bronze with a distance of 74.48m, making him only the second Nigerian to win a medal in a field event at the World U20 Championships, and the first ever to win a medal in the throws.
Laspa said: &ldquo;This gold means a lot to me. I had surgery on my elbow last year so I had a short training period coming into this event. This is a very important gold for me because we have a strong tradition in the event. I&rsquo;m looking forward to next year&rsquo;s world championships in the US.&rdquo;
Although Chinecherem was crestfallen after losing the gold, the African Games bronze medallist, who has just been signed by Baylor University, was happy to have made history for Nigeria.
&ldquo;The competition didn&rsquo;t play out the way I planned it," he said. &ldquo;I came for the gold and hoped to hit the 80-metre mark but coming to the final I got a 74. I feel a bit disappointed but I&rsquo;m okay. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don&rsquo;t. To make history is not easy, it&rsquo;s never been easy. For me being the first person to get the first medal in the throws at the World U20 Championships, I&rsquo;m really grateful.&rdquo;
The host country added another gold medal to their haul, this time around in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase where Jackline Chepkoech ran a&nbsp;practically solo race from the first barrier to leave no one else with the chance of taking the gold. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611ffa61195f69d81f894956.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Her closest contender was Ethiopia&rsquo;s Zerfe Wondemagegn who tried to keep up, but after the first lap, Chepkoech established at least a 30m lead, leaving the rest of the field behind until the very end. She raced to a lifetime best of 9:27.40 to secure Kenya&rsquo;s third consecutive gold medal and even though Celliphine Chespol&rsquo;s championship record of 9:12.79 remained untouched, Chepkoech was so excited at winning gold that she immediately did the victory lap as soon as she collected the flag without waiting to catch her breath after performing such as amazing feat.
Wondemagegn won the silver with a time of 9:35.22 while the second Kenyan in the race, Faith Cherotich, took the bronze with 9:44.76 and immediately joined Chepkoech for the victory lap.
Belgium&rsquo;s Jente Hauttekeete currently tops the standing in the men&rsquo;s decathlon with 4381 points after five events: the 100m, long jump, shot put (6kg), high jump and 400m. The 19-year-old comes to Nairobi as the reigning European U20 champion will be hoping to extend his dominance by the end of proceedings on Saturday.
He won three of the five events competed in on Friday, taking victories in the 100m (10.89), long jump (7.44m) and high jump (2.09m), then finished second in both the shot put and 400m respectively, setting a personal best of 48.99m in the latter. Following him closely is Frantisek Doubek of Czech Republic who has amassed 4173 points thus far, while Spaniard Jose San Pastor sits at third position with 3907 points.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

A world U20 lead, a national record, a personal best: all three podium finishers in the men’s long jump ended the evening with more than their medals.

Chepkoech dominates steeplechase and Konate soars to world U20 lead in Nairobi

Straight off the track on which he had just blazed to a world U20 110m hurdles record of 12.93, Sasha Zhoya reaffirmed his intent.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m targeting to be one of the greats,&rdquo; he said.
Becoming a world record-holder is not a bad place to start.
With a PB of 13.02 set in June, as well as a wind-assisted 12.98 to his name, Zhoya is one of the headline acts of this week's World U20 Championships in Nairobi, and he started his campaign in sensational style.
Opening with a smooth 13.12 to win his heat on Friday (20) morning, the European U20 champion returned to the Kasarani Stadium track five and a half hours later, on the cusp of making history.
Lining up in lane 6, Zhoya blasted out of the blocks and flew over the first few barriers. Despite losing his rhythm over the final four hurdles, knocking down three of them, he still managed to achieve the wind legal sub-13, plus the world record, he had been hunting.
His time of 12.93 (-0.4m/s) takes 0.06 off the world U20 record which had been set by his fellow Frenchman Wilhem Belocian in 2014 and equalled by Jamaica&rsquo;s Damion Thomas in 2018.
A time of 12.93 in an imperfect race with a global final still to come means all eyes will be on Zhoya when he returns to race for gold at 4.15pm local time on Saturday. 
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<h3 style="color: #a5fa64;">READ: With a background in ballet and music, Zhoya is ready to put on his own show</h3>
Sasha Zhoya is different. Watch the 19-year-old racing his peers in France or Australia, the way he explodes from the blocks, blazes down the track, clearing barriers at frightening speed, and that becomes obvious very quickly.
Listen to his life story &ndash; the background in ballet, his musician parents, the blend of nationalities on three different continents that form a rich and complex identity &ndash; and it&rsquo;s also clear.
Zhoya is different, but in a good way.
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 &ldquo;You go into a competition hoping to break your own record,&rdquo; said Zhoya, who was born in Australia to a French mother and Zimbabwean father and has decided to represent France in competition.
&ldquo;My record was 13.02, the aim was to break that record which was close to the world record. I did that today and hopefully I can attack it again tomorrow. There were a lot of mistakes in the race, so there are corrections to be made. Hopefully tomorrow I can make those corrections and get a quicker time.&rdquo;
Zhoya had not originally been expecting to race twice on the same day, with the competition programme initially featuring the heats, semifinals and final on consecutive days.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a morning person at all so this morning was very hard for me!&rdquo; laughed the teenager,&nbsp;who paid tribute to his mother straight after the race by holding up his bib, on the back of which he had written &lsquo;Mumma&rsquo;s love&rsquo;. Writing it on the back, he explained, was so his message would remain close to his heart.
&ldquo;But I still managed to get a decent time (in the heats) even though I was sleeping on the bus and it took me a bit of time to wake up. As an athlete you have to learn to adapt.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611fcb8ef80123fa49913ec1.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 He also had to overcome a tight hip and sore shoulder.
&ldquo;I had a bit of a niggle in my hip, so I&rsquo;ll rest up and see the physios and the treatment team. I&rsquo;m feeling a little bit tight,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;My last four hurdles were not great, my coach is going to have a stern word about those hurdles! But it just means that I can lower that time for sure if I just clean it up.&rdquo;
Joining him in the final will be Colombia's John Paredes, who finished second behind Zhoya and was inspired to a PB of 13.46, plus Hong Kong&rsquo;s Siu Hang Cheung, who ran a national U20 record of 13.57 in third. The first semifinal was won by Jamaica's Vashaun Vascianna (13.35) from Poland&rsquo;s Jakub Szymanski (13.50), Erwann Cinna of France (13.51), Qatar&rsquo;s Saeed Othman Alabsi with a national U20 record of 13.52 and Czech Republic&rsquo;s Stepan Schubert (13.63).
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final is another which looks set to be a thriller, with Jamaica&rsquo;s Ackera Nugent and Switzerland&rsquo;s Ditaji Kambundji both clocking 13.02 in their respective semifinals. Also racing for medals will be Poland&rsquo;s Weronika Barcz (13.36 PB), Jamaica&rsquo;s Oneka Wilson (13.39), Estonia&rsquo;s Anna Maria Millend who ran a national U20 record of 13.44, Hungary&rsquo;s Anna Toth (13.46), Finland&rsquo;s Sonja Stang (13.59) and Viktoria Forster of Slovak Republic (13.59).
There were also some fast times in the 200m semifinals. The day after winning 100m silver, Namibia's Olympic sixth-placer Beatrice Masilingi led the&nbsp;qualifiers for the women's 200m&nbsp;final with a championship record of 22.19. Her compatriot Christine Mboma, the Olympic silver medallist, and Nigeria's Favour Ofili won their heats in 22.41 and 22.37 respectively, their times so quick they would have been championship records had&nbsp;Masilingi not just improved the mark.
In the men's semifinals, Nigeria's Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike led with a wind-assisted 20.13 (2.3m/s), while Botswana's recently-crowned 100m champion Letsile Tebogo ran a PB of 20.31. Tarsis Orogot set a Ugandan U20 record of 20.37 and Blessing Akawasi Afrifah became Israel's first world U20 sprint finalist since 2008, clocking 20.49.
Ethiopia's Ayal Dagnachew went quickest in the women's 800m semifinals, clocking 2:04.26 ahead of Ukraine's Svitlana Zhulzhyk (2:06.28) and Elli Eftychia Deligianni of Greece (2:06.41). Spain's&nbsp;Marina Martinez won the second heat in&nbsp;2:07.22 from Switzerland's&nbsp;Valentina Rosamilia (2:07.23) and Slovenia's&nbsp;Veronika Sadek (2:07.41).
Kenya's Amos Serem and Simon Kiprop Koech won the two men's 3000m steeplechase heats, clocking 8:29.98 and 8:52.43 respectively. Among those joining them in the final will be Ethiopia's Tadese Takele (8:30.47), Uganda's&nbsp;Leonard Chemutai&nbsp; (8:42.71) and&nbsp;Abel Yemane of&nbsp;Eritrea (8:51.28).
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

The European U20 110m hurdles champion runs 12.93 in Nairobi.

Hurdles star Zhoya breaks world U20 record and aims for even faster final

A last-gasp clearance at 5.45m by Belarus&rsquo;s Matvei Volkov to take gold in the men&rsquo;s pole vault proved a thrilling climax to the third morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21 on Friday (20).&nbsp;
The 17-year-old, who won silver at the European U20 Championships last month, moved one step higher on the podium here to deny Finland&rsquo;s Juho Alasaari and continue his family&rsquo;s long legacy of world-class vaulting.&nbsp;
Volkov&rsquo;s father, Konstantin, was an Olympic silver medallist in the pole vault for the USSR in 1980 and his late grandfather, Yuri, ran the pole vault institute in Irkutsk, Russia, that produced a litany of world-class vaulters.&nbsp;
Konstantin has coached his son throughout his career and he was again trackside in Nairobi, enduring nervous moments as his son failed twice at 5.45m. Volkov had entered the competition at 5.30m and joined South Africa&rsquo;s Kyle Rademeyer at the head of the standings, both men soaring clear at the first attempt. Alasaari skipped 5.30m and needed three attempts to go clear at 5.35m, but when he did it catapulted him into gold medal position, with Rademeyer passing 5.35m and recording three subsequent failures, while Volkov skipped both 5.35m and 5.40m.&nbsp;
Gold looked to be headed to Finland after Volkov&rsquo;s two misses at 5.45m but the Belarusian snatched victory with his last clearance, with Alasaari taking silver with 5.35m and Rademeyer bronze with 5.30m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I like pressure,&rdquo; said Volkov. &ldquo;I felt by myself what I needed to change (for the final attempt) and my father just gave me a kick, &lsquo;let&rsquo;s jump.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Volkov&rsquo;s gold capped a fine end to a difficult season, given he missed three weeks of training in June after a training accident that caused a heel injury.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s in my DNA,&rdquo; he said of his ability at the event. &ldquo;Next year I want to make 5.80m to jump at the world indoors. It&rsquo;s my dream. I&rsquo;ll work for this.&rdquo;
His father also believes there is much more to come. &ldquo;In winter he jumped very high,&rdquo; said Konstantin. &ldquo;Next winter you will see a new man.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s discus final Violetta Ignatyeva, an authorised neutral athlete, was a dominant winner, her 57.12m opening round effort more than good enough for gold, but she went farther in the fifth round, throwing 57.84m.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really grateful to my coaches and the entire team that made it possible to take part in this,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s even better that I managed to win gold.&rdquo;
Silver went to South Africa&rsquo;s Mine de Klerk who threw an African U20 record of 53.50m while Belarus&rsquo;s Alina Nikitsenka took bronze with 51.47m.&nbsp; 
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 &ldquo;This makes me really emotional,&rdquo; said De Klerk. &ldquo;I dedicate it to my grandmother who passed on in June. She supported me since I started doing track and field competitions and I just wanted to make her proud.&rdquo;
After three events in the decathlon, Belgium&rsquo;s Jente Hauttekeete leads the way on 2632 points ahead of Czech Republic&rsquo;s Frantisek Doubek (2522) and Spain&rsquo;s Jose San Pastor (2444).&nbsp;
Hauttekeete was just outside his PB of 10.88 in the 100m, clocking 10.89, and he followed it up with a 7.44m long jump, also just 1cm shy his PB, and 15.61m in the shot put, just 2cm off his best.&nbsp;
Doubek clocked 10.93 in the 100m, managed 7.19m in the long jump and 14.96m in the shot put, while San Pastor clocked 11.32 in the 100m, long jumped 6.96m and threw 15.97m in the shot put. The trio&rsquo;s closest pursuer is Finland&rsquo;s Aleksi Savolainen who has 2358 points. &nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, French star Sasha Zhoya started his campaign with a signal of intent, producing a slick display of hurdling and coasting to the line in 13.12 (0.3m/s), the world U20 record of 12.99 looking within reach ahead of this evening&rsquo;s semifinal and tomorrow&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the championships for so long so it&rsquo;s fantastic to get going,&rdquo; said Zhoya. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not very much concerned with the time because my target is to win gold in the finals. As a European champion, the weight of expectation will not weigh me down.&rdquo;
Jamaica&rsquo;s Vashaun Vascianna was a highly impressive winner of his heat in 13.37 (1.0m/s) while there were also wins for Nigeria&rsquo;s Prosper Oghemine Ekporore in 13.71 (0.2m/s) and Poland&rsquo;s Jakub Szymanski in 13.52 (1.5m/s).&nbsp;
Switzerland&rsquo;s Ditaji Kambundji was the quickest in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles heats, the younger sister of senior sprint star Mujinga coasting to victory in 13.30 (0.1m/s). Also impressing was Jamaican star Ackera Nugent who clocked 13.35 (-0.6m/s) to win her heat and her teammate Oneka Wilson who clocked a PB of 13.36 (0.2m/s). There were also wins for Poland&rsquo;s Marika Majewska (13.58) and South Africa&rsquo;s Marione Fourie (13.64).&nbsp;
Finland&rsquo;s Silja Kosonen led the way in women&rsquo;s hammer qualification, throwing 68.46m on her opening effort, more than eight metres beyond the automatic qualifying mark of 60.00m. Belarus&rsquo;s Maryola Bukel was next best with 64.28m followed by Poland&rsquo;s Karolina Bomba (62.22m) and France&rsquo;s Rose Loga (60.72m). Finland&rsquo;s Aada Koppeli (60.14m), Italy&rsquo;s Rachele Mori (60.62m) and France&rsquo;s Estelle Veillas (60.04m) were also auto qualifiers for tomorrow&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s 1500m heats saw Kenya and Ethiopia duke it out at the front of both races, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diribe Welteji leading the field home in the first heat in 4:26.26 ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Winnie Jemutai (4:26.47). &ldquo;Now that I have qualified for the final my target is to win a medal for my country,&rdquo; said Jemutai. &ldquo;I feel the pressure but it will be a good way to honour the fans.&rdquo;
Kenya&rsquo;s Purity Chepkirui held off Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hiwot Mehari to take the second heat, 4:22.10 to 4:22.37.&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s 200m heats Namibia&rsquo;s Beatrice Masilingi was quickest, taking victory in 22.65 (0.2m/s) just 17 hours after winning silver in the 100m. &ldquo;I felt a bit fatigued and I am a little surprised I ran that good,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Yesterday&rsquo;s success is now passed, I am gearing up for the remaining 200m races.&rdquo;
Her compatriot Christine Mboma, the Olympic silver medallist, breezed to victory in 23.23 (0.2m/s). Nigeria&rsquo;s Favour Ofili was impressive when taking her heat in 22.74 (0.1m/s) while there were also wins for Jamaica&rsquo;s Brianna Lyston (23.18) and South Africa&rsquo;s Viwe Jingqi (23.84).
Nigeria&rsquo;s Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike was the quickest in the men&rsquo;s 200m heats, clocking a PB of 20.47 (-1.0m/s). Also impressing was Denmark&rsquo;s Tazana Mikkel Kamanga-Dyrbak who clocked 20.53 (0.4m/s) and 100m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana who clocked 20.63 (0.2m/s). There were also wins for Jamaica&rsquo;s Brian Levell in 20.90 and Bahamas&rsquo; Wendell Miller (20.72).&nbsp;
In women&rsquo;s high jump qualification there was no need for the bar to ascend to the automatic qualifying height of 1.85m, with 11 athletes clearing 1.78m. They will be joined in the 13-women final by Belgium&rsquo;s Merel Maes and Romania&rsquo;s Federica Gabriella Apostol who had a best of 1.74m.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

A last-gasp clearance at 5.45m by Belarus’s Matvei Volkov to take gold in the men’s pole vault proved a thrilling climax to the third morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21 on Friday (20). 

Volkov vaults to U20 title, while Ignatyeva dominates discus on day three in Nairobi

The battle for superiority between East Africa&rsquo;s athletics powerhouses, Kenya and Ethiopia, was reignited in full force as the men&rsquo;s 5000m final, women&rsquo;s 3000m final and men&rsquo;s 1500m heats featured on Thursday (19), day two of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
After Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tadese Worku stole the show on day one by inspiring a 1-2 for his country in the men&rsquo;s 3000m, the host country came battle ready this time around, leaving no stone unturned to ensure they won both gold medals at stake in the men&rsquo;s 5000m final and women&rsquo;s 3000m final.
Despite the lack of fans at the stadium, the host team along with the volunteers and local media at the Kasarani Stadium ensured that the Kenyan athletes had more than enough moral support to push them to gold, starting with the 5000m which had an interesting formation of 10 athletes comprising two each from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Eritrea, plus a South Sudanese athlete and one athlete from Burundi.
At the sound of the gun the athletes went out in pairs with Uganda's Rodgers Kibet and Martin Magengo Kiprotich leading the first two laps. By the third lap, Worku led the charge for Ethiopia and overtook the Ugandans, while his teammate Addisu Yihune kept close. By the fourth lap the Ethiopians and Kenyans had distinguished themselves from the rest of the field with a 10-metre gap between both sides.
An unrelenting Worku maintained the lead almost all the way through to the final lap, briefly losing the lead to Kenya&rsquo;s Benson Kiplangat a couple of times, who had his compatriot Levy Kibet right behind him. Yihune faded with two laps to go, making it a three-man race when the bell went off. Worku tried to go all out but at the last bend was overtaken by Kiplangat who stormed to sweet victory in a personal best of 13:20.37 as Worku followed in 13:20.65. Kibet settled for bronze, also in a personal best of 13:26.01.&nbsp; 
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 Speaking afterwards, Kiplangat expressed his delight at winning Kenya&rsquo;s first gold medal of the competition. &ldquo;I thank God and I feel good about this victory because I trained hard for this," he said. "I&rsquo;m happy I defeated the Ethiopians because today I already made up my mind to beat them to the gold. Now I&rsquo;ll go and train for next year&rsquo;s World Cross Country Championships.&rdquo;
Many were surprised to see Worku compete in the 5000m a day after winning the 3000m, but the middle-distance runner disclosed that he only made the decision to race the 5000m in the morning after his teammate withdrew, and he wanted to stand in for him so as to win another medal for Ethiopia.
Kenya&rsquo;s second victory of the day was secured by Teresiah Muthoni Gateri who became the first woman from her country since 2012 to win gold in the 3000m. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Melknat Wudu pushed hard but Gateri went past her in the final lap to win the race in 8:57.78, blowing kisses to her supporters as she crossed the finish line.
Fellow Kenyan Zenah Jemutai Yego followed in second, and she could hardly hide her delight, pumping her fists in the air as it dawned on her that she had won the silver medal. Wudu settled for bronze in a personal best of 9:00.12.
Celebrating her triumph, Gateri said: &ldquo;Competing on home soil motivated me to go for gold because I don&rsquo;t think I can host someone at my home and let them come and rule at my home so we were very ready. We hosted them well, we welcomed them well and we were ready to face the challenge and it has happened, we thank God."
Another event Kenya dominated was the men&rsquo;s 1500m heats, with the four fastest in each of the two heats and the next four fastest advancing to the next round.
Vincent Kibet Keter gave a good account of himself and did enough to keep his Ethiopian rival Melkeneh Azize at bay to cross the line in 3:42.35, with the latter following with 3:44.81. Eritrea&rsquo;s Abderezak Suleman finished third in 3:47.81 while Uganda&rsquo;s Peter Maru also advanced to the next round with his time of 3:48.28.
It was another Kenyan dominance in heat two of the men&rsquo;s 1500m. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Wegene Addisu took the lead 200m into the race with his Kenyan counterpart Kamar Etiang overtaking him with two laps to go. The later took advantage of his longer strides to cross the line first in 3:44.75 while Addisu followed with a time of 3:44.86. Spain&rsquo;s Pol Oriach and Frenchman Ylies Mihoubi were the other automatic qualifiers from heat two.
Meanwhile, it was a historic night for Botswana as the country won its first ever 100m medal at the World U20 Championships, or any global championship for that matter. Having clocked two national U20 records the previous day, Letsile Tebogo had already cemented his place as the man to beat and he did not falter, despite the harsh conditions caused by rainfall.
Although he left the blocks a little late, the 18-year-old had enough steam to power to his first global title with a time of 10.19. South Africa&rsquo;s Benjamin Richardson won the silver in 10.28 as Cuba&rsquo;s Shainer Rengifo Montoya was more than happy with his bronze medal which he claimed with 10.32.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I had to finish what I already started," said&nbsp;Tebogo. "I&rsquo;m really proud of myself because we need to change how the books are. Now Botswana has their first gold medal from the World U20 Championships.
"I know the people back home are very happy. This gold medal is for my mum, my coach and personal trainer. I can&rsquo;t celebrate yet because I have the 200m tomorrow. Having the gold medal in the 100m is an advantage because some of my rivals are really scared since they do not know what I&rsquo;m going to do in the 200m." 
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 Jamaica&rsquo;s 17-year-old Tina Clayton was in a class of her own in the women&rsquo;s 100m final, maintaining her unbeaten run all through the championships to take the gold medal with a personal best of 11.09, bettering her former time of 11.17 set while racing to gold at the NACAC U18 Championships in San Jose last month. 
Namibia&rsquo;s Beatrice Masilingi took the silver in 11.39 while Switzerland&rsquo;s Melissa Gutschmidt pipped Nigeria&rsquo;s Praise Ofoku to the bronze medal, clocking a time of 11.51.
"The feeling is unexplainable," said&nbsp;Clayton. "It's really good to win this gold medal and register a personal best time.
"I am really grateful for the support offered to me by my parents and coaches and I know they are really proud of me after this result. It feels good to know that Jamaica has successfully defended this title after Briana Williams won it in 2018."
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

The battle for superiority between East Africa’s athletics powerhouses, Kenya and Ethiopia, was reignited in full force.

Kenya strikes double gold as Tebogo makes 100m history for Botswana in Nairobi 

The European U20 champion becomes the world U20 champion. Saga Vanninen had been the dominant force during two days of heptathlon competition at the World Athletics U20 Championships and she remained unfazed during a stormy afternoon in Nairobi to claim her second major title this season.
After six events &ndash; four of which she won &ndash; the 18-year-old had a 373-point lead with just the 800m to go on Thursday (19).
Running her own race, Vanninen finished seventh in 2:31.79, confident in the knowledge that she had already done more than enough to claim the crown. With a total of 5997 points she finished 251 points ahead of Estonia&rsquo;s Pippi Lotta Enok, with Hungary&rsquo;s Szabina Szucs winning the battle for bronze &ndash; her 5674-point PB performance securing her a podium place ahead of Austria&rsquo;s Sophie Kreiner, who also had the competition of her life to finish fourth with 5652 points.
&ldquo;I am so happy,&rdquo; said Vanninen. &ldquo;I hoped that I would win.&rdquo;
The Finnish teenager had added more than 400 points to her personal best to win the European U20 title in Tallinn in July, scoring 6271 to surpass 6000 points for the first time and break her own national U20 record. That performance put her ninth on the world U20 all-time list, ahead of athletes such as reigning world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Back in action just over a month later, Vanninen opened her global title campaign with a 100m hurdles win (13.60), before also topping the high jump (1.78m) and shot put (13.30m).
She then placed second to Enok in the 200m, running an equal personal best of 24.83 as Enok clocked a 24.59 PB, to end the first day in the lead on 3638 points.
She started day two with a third place in the long jump as she leapt 5.98m, and then came the javelin. Launching the spear 49.22m, it was more than five metres further than the rest of the field could manage and improved on her previous best of 48.88m.
It proved that her decision to focus on the discipline in training with a specialist coach has paid off.
An already long two days of competition was made that bit longer when the afternoon programme was delayed due to a storm, but the conditions did not concern Vanninen, who became the first Finnish heptathlete to win world U20 gold.
&ldquo;It is normal for me because in Finland it is raining all the time,&rdquo; she smiled. &ldquo;I knew that I just had to finish (the 800m) and that I could win.&rdquo;
She will still be an U20 next year, but has her eye on the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
For Enok, her performance in Nairobi was a more than 100-point PB, building on the 5634 score she set to finish fifth at the European U20 Championships, while Szucs added 275 points to her previous best.
&ldquo;I am a big fighter and I showed it here in this field,&rdquo; said Enok. &ldquo;I arrived just a day before the competition and I am glad that the two-day competition went flawlessly.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
<h2>Javelin gold for Vilagos</h2>
As Vanninen did in the heptathlon javelin, Serbia&rsquo;s Adriana Vilagos also had the throw of her life in Nairobi and that gained her gold in an individual javelin contest which was paused mid competition because of the weather.
The rain had already started to fall but European U20 silver medallist Vilagos got her national U20 record-breaking throw in before the worst of the storm, throwing a world U20 lead of 61.46m in the first round of the competition. That added more than half a metre to her previous best with the senior weight javelin which she had set in June.
The 17-year-old had one more throw, of 58.95m, before the competition was paused, and when it resumed she continued with marks of 58.25m, 59.51m, 58.18m and 56.28m. 
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 Vilagos had claimed silver at the European U20 Championships one month earlier in a competition won by Elina Tzengko of Greece. Here the podium places were switched as Tzengko threw 59.60m for silver, while Cuba&rsquo;s Yiselena Ballar Rojas secured bronze on her first international trip, throwing 55.48m.
&ldquo;I am incredibly happy,&rdquo; said Vilagos, who had broken her own world U18 javelin best with the 500g implement just five days earlier, throwing 70.10m on home soil at the Balkan U18 Championships in Kraljevo.
&ldquo;I was not thinking that I would be first. It is so fantastic. The javelin flew so nicely and it was an incredible feeling.&rdquo;
On how she managed in the conditions, she added: &ldquo;I mostly like it when it is raining, but not like that today! I am happy that the competition finally finished like that.
&ldquo;I am happy that I achieved my goal in the 500g javelin and also this, so this season has been great.&rdquo;
Tzengko, who threw 63.96m in August 2020 to better the world U20 record mark although it could not be ratified as an official record, said: &ldquo;I take the silver proudly.&rdquo; 
<h2>Vazquez Gomez gains last-gasp win</h2>
In a shot put contest which was reminiscent of the close senior world title battle in Doha in 2019, Cuba's Juan Carley Vazquez Gomez gained the gold with a last-gasp effort which put him ahead by just three centimetres.
Yauheni Bryhi of Belarus had launched his shot 19.70m in the first round, adding 40cm to his personal best to take an early clear lead. He was unable to build on that in the following rounds, with three fouls, and then threw 18.98m in the fifth round before a final foul.
Meanwhile, 2019 Pan American U20 bronze medallist Vazquez Gomez saved his best until last, throwing 19.73m in the final round to take the title. He had earlier thrown 19.68m in the second round to trail Bryhi by just two centimetres.
&ldquo;I was a bit nervous but then I relaxed and felt better as the competition went on,&rdquo; said Vazquez Gomez, the sole 20 metre-plus thrower in the field thanks to his national U20 record-equalling 20.32m achieved last year.
&ldquo;During the last few months, I haven&rsquo;t been able to train properly in Cuba due to the pandemic, but luckily I managed to stay in good shape by doing some stuff at home and eventually I managed to get a few good training sessions in to be able to get here in a good shape.&rdquo;
With a throw of 19.16m, Switzerland&rsquo;s Jephte Vogel secured himself a place on the podium alongside Vazquez Gomez and Bryhi, while Arsalan Ghashghaei of Iran finished fourth with a PB of 19.00m.
The other two finals due to be held on Thursday &ndash; the women's discus and the men's pole vault &ndash; were moved to Friday morning's session due to the weather.
Over in women's triple jump qualifying, Sweden's&nbsp;Maja Askag and&nbsp;Spain&rsquo;s Tessy Ebosele were the two automatic&nbsp;qualifiers as they leapt&nbsp;13.48m and&nbsp;13.47m respectively. They will be joined in the final by athletes including&nbsp;Sohane Aucagos of France and&nbsp;Saly Sarr, who jumped a Senegal U20 record of&nbsp;13.06m.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

The European U20 heptathlon champion becomes the world U20 champion.

Vanninen, Vilagos and Vazquez Gomez weather the storm to gain gold in Nairobi

Finnish heptathlete Saga Vanninen, the reigning European U20 champion, is on the verge of becoming Finland&rsquo;s first ever world U20 heptathlon champion as she currently tops the standings at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi after six events, having competed in the long jump and javelin throw on Thursday morning (19).
The 18-year-old started her campaign on a good note on Wednesday, winning the 100m hurdles (13.60), high jump (1.78m) and shot put (13.30m). She finished second to Estonia&rsquo;s Pippi Lotta Enok in the 200m with a personal best of 24.83 and won the javelin with a personal best of 49.22m, improving on her former mark of 48.88m, then settled for third in the long jump with a mark of 5.98m, following her lifetime best of 6.34m set in Tallin.
Nevertheless, she leads the women&rsquo;s heptathlon with a total of 5326 points with only the 800m left. It is not her strongest event, but she has established a 373-point lead between herself and closest competitor Enok, who has amassed 4953 points.
Hungary&rsquo;s Szabina Szucs is third on the standings with 4843 points and will slug out the battle for bronze with Austria&rsquo;s Sophie Kreiner who comes with a faster time of 2:19.89 in the 800m as opposed to Szucs&rsquo; season&rsquo;s best of 2:27.50. 
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 Another Finnish athlete Heidi Salminen led the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles semifinals, winning the first heat in a PB of 58.12, just dipping on the line ahead of Frenchwoman Ludivine Aubert who clocked 58.46 for second. The third qualifier for the final from that race was Italian Angelica Ghergo (58.84).
Jamaica&rsquo;s Garriel White ran a dominant race to take heat two with 58.65 as Poland&rsquo;s Alicja Kaczmarek followed in 59.32. Canadian hurdler Savannah Sutherland clocked the second fastest time across the three heats, crossing the line in 58.45, while Jamaican Moseiha Bridgen placed second in that race in 58.88. Maria Tarabanskaya secured the fastest non automatic qualifying spot with 59.18.
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdlers also took to the track of the Kasarani Stadium to compete in the heats and authorised neutral athlete Denis Novoseltsev clocked the overall fastest time of 50.88 to win heat two, inspiring Kenya&rsquo;s Peter Kithome to a personal best of 51.31 as South African Christiaan Venter settled for third.
Jamaica's 17-year-old Roshawn Clarke sped to the second fastest time in the heats, clocking a lifetime best to win heat one in 50.93. Slovakia&rsquo;s Matic Ian Gucek and Kenyan Alocias Kipngetich placed second and third respectively with 51.27 and 51.41, a personal best for the latter.
Turkey's European U20 champion Berke Akcam took it easy and did just enough to win heat three, returning a time of 52.40 in the process. Heat four was won by Jamaican Devontie Archer in 52.17 while the final heat was taken by Oskar Edlund of Sweden (52.77).
The host country Kenya put up a strong showing in the men&rsquo;s 800m heats and were spurred to victories in their respective heats. Emmanuel Wanyonyi led from start to finish to win heat three with the overall fastest time of 1:46.51, inspiring Yanis Meziane of France to a personal best of 1:47.28 in second place.
His teammate Noah Kibet was initially challenged by Czech Republic&rsquo;s Jakub Davidik but held his own to cross the line in 1:46.70 as the latter followed in 1:47.84. Algerian Heithem Chenitef raced to a lifetime best of 1:49.19 in third. Another Algerian, Mohamed Ali Gouaned, won heat four with a time of 1:48.83 as Poland&rsquo;s Kacper Lewalski also won his heat.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ayal Dagnachew was the quickest across the women&rsquo;s 800m heats. She dominated heat one with a personal best of 2:02.94 while Greek athlete Elli Eftychia Deligianni followed with 2:05.38. Hungarian Zita Urban finished third with a personal best of 2:07.39.
Another Ethiopian Mebriht Mekonen led the charge in heat two with her time of 2:08.62. Also qualifying for the semifinal from the same heat were Belgium&rsquo;s Annelies Nijssen and Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Tharushi Dissanayaka. Canadian Avery Pearson was too strong for the rest of the field in heat three with her time of 2:07.99, finishing ahead of Switzerland&rsquo;s Valentina Rosamilia (2:08.89) and Mexico&rsquo;s Lorena Rangel (2:09.86).
The final heat was won by European U20 silver medalist Svitlana Zhulzhyk of Ukraine in 2:07.61. Spanish athlete Marina Martinez and Veronika Sadek were second and third respectively in 2:08.21 and 2:08.34.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

Finnish heptathlete Saga Vanninen, the reigning European U20 champion, is on the verge of becoming Finland’s first ever world U20 heptathlon champion.

Vanninen on cusp of heptathlon history, while Kenya dominates men’s 800m heats in Nairobi

It was a good day in the office for the host continent of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Wednesday (18) as on an atmospheric afternoon&nbsp;all three finals were won by Africans.
Nigeria&rsquo;s quartet of Johnson Nnamani, Imaobong Nse Uko, Opeyemi Oke and Bamidele Ajayi combined to clock 3:19.70 in the mixed 4x400m relay, their second championship record in as many races, having run 3:21.66 earlier in the day. The West African nation made history by becoming the first ever champions in the event which was making its debut at a World U20 Championships. The medal is also Nigeria&rsquo;s first world U20 gold since 2008 when Folashade Abugan won the women&rsquo;s 400m title in Bydgoszcz.
Only one substitution was made from the Nigerian team that ran the semifinals as Ella Onojuvwevwo was replaced with Uko in the final, and what a game-changer she turned out to be, moving from third place while running a brilliant second leg and handing the baton to Oke in first position. Anchor leg Ajayi was briefly overshadowed by Poland&rsquo;s Patryk Grzegorzewicz but he switched gears on the home straight, going past his rival to cement the gold position for Nigeria.
Poland made two substitutions, with Michal Wrobel, Kornelia Lesiewicz and Alicja Kaczmarek teaming up with Grzegorzewicz as the team improved on their season&rsquo;s best from the morning, taking silver in 3:19.80, while India proved a formidable force, with the team of Barath Sridhar, Priya Habbathanahalli Mohan, Summy and Kapil storming to bronze ahead of Jamaica in a season&rsquo;s best of 3:20.60. Jamaica had started out with much promise as Antoine Matthys Nortje took the lead in the first leg, but the team then faded, finishing in fourth.
Uko, who is hoping to also clinch a medal in the women&rsquo;s 400m, said: &ldquo;It was not easy but it feels great, something to write home about. We trained hard for this because we believe everything is possible when we put our team together.&rdquo; 
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 The second final on the track was the men&rsquo;s 3000m where Ethiopia proved too strong for the rest of the field. World Cross Country Championships U20 silver medallist Tadese Worku began to separate himself from the rest of the pack after the first lap with teammate Ali Abdilmana just on his tail, eventually leaving almost a 100m gap between the pair and rest of their competitors up to the very end. It was the first time this event had been held for men at the World U20 Championships and Worku clocked 7:42.09 for gold.
Abdilmana settled for silver with a personal best of 7:44.55, while Eritrea&rsquo;s Habtom Samuel took the bronze in 7:52.69, also a personal best. Speaking after his race, an excited Worku said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling good, I&rsquo;m feeling very happy because I got the gold. Congratulations to my country.&rdquo; 
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 South Africa&rsquo;s Mire Reinstorf emerged the surprise winner of the women&rsquo;s pole vault final as she soared to an African U20 record of 4.15m, stunning pre-championship favourite and silver medallist from last month&rsquo;s European U20 Championships in Tallinn, Emma Brentel of France.
The 19-year-old Reinstorf rose to the occasion and proved to be the most consistent jumper on the day as she was the only one to clear 4.15m at the first time of asking. She had earlier cleared 3.80m, 3.95m and 4.05m before failing her three attempts at 4.20m. Silver medallist Elise Russis of France also cleared the winning height of 4.15m but on her second attempt, giving the South African the advantage on countback. Canadian Heather Abadie took the bronze medal with 4.05m.
Feeling quite overwhelmed with her performance, Reinstorf, a two-time South African champion, said: &ldquo;I'm so happy and grateful for this. It's my first international competition and I'm so grateful it turned out this way. I honestly didn't think that I was going to get a medal. It has been a really amazing experience.&rdquo; 
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 The men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 100m semis lived up to their billing as Botswana&rsquo;s Letsile Tebogo clocked the overall fastest time across all three heats, racing to a national record of 10.11, his second personal best of the day. Poland&rsquo;s Oliwer Wdowik was also inspired to a personal best of 10.37 in second place.
Heat two was dominated by Oman&rsquo;s Ali Anwar Ali Al Balushi who sped to a national U20 record of 10.27, taking along with him to the final the next three finishers: Italy&rsquo;s Matteo Melluzo (10.29), Benjamin Richardson of South Africa (10.30) and Nazzio John who clocked a personal best of 10.32. Nigeria&rsquo;s Godson Brume was the man to beat in heat three as he returned a time of 10.22 while Shainer Rengifo Montoya of Cuba posted a lifetime best of 10.29 to finish second.
In the women&rsquo;s event, Jamaica's Tina Clayton won the first semifinal with 11.34 which was the fastest time overall. Serbian Ivana Ilic was second in 11.50, although she did not race to a national record like she did in the heats, while Namibia's Beatrice Masilingi won her heat in 11.35, finishing ahead of Switzerland's Melissa Gutschmidt.
Nigeria&rsquo;s Praise Ofoku came from behind to dip on the line first in 11.57 in the third heat as Eva Kubickova followed with a season&rsquo;s best of 11.64. Viktoria Forster, who is Slovakia&rsquo;s 200m champion, secured one of the non automatic qualifying spots with a national U20 record of 11.54 while the final spot went to Jamaica&rsquo;s Kerrica Hill.
Having already led the pack in the high jump and 100m hurdles, Finnish heptathlete and European U20 champion Saga Vanninen still tops the rankings after extending her dominance to the shot put where she threw 13.30m, before racing to a lifetime best of 24.83 in the 200m to finish second behind Estonia&rsquo;s Pippi Lotta Enok.
Nigeria&rsquo;s Chinecherem Nnamdi threw a national U20 record to top the standings in the men&rsquo;s javelin throw qualification, with the javelin landing at a mark of 78.02m in Group A. Slovenia&rsquo;s Filip Dominkovic was second with a lifetime best of 73.82m, with Eryk Kolodziejczak (71.73m) and Indian Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana (71.05m) following.
Group B was headed by Ukrainian Artur Felener with 77.15m to secure his place in the final. Finland&rsquo;s Janne Laspa (77.10m), Indian Jay Kumar (70.34m) and South Africa&rsquo;s Zander Van Der Merwe (68.56m) were some of the other athletes that made it to the javelin final.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

It was a good day in the office for the host continent of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Wednesday (18) as on an atmospheric afternoon all three finals were won by Africans.

Nigeria wins first ever world U20 mixed 4x400m gold on day one in Nairobi

A pair of national U20 100m records by Botswana&rsquo;s Letsile Tebogo and Namibia&rsquo;s Beatrice Masilingi, a Czech U20 hammer record by&nbsp;Jan Dolezalek&nbsp;and a strong start by Finnish heptathlete Saga Vanninen highlighted the first morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21&nbsp;on Wednesday (18).&nbsp;
Vanninen, the reigning European U20 champion, showed she is well on track to become Finland&rsquo;s first ever world U20 heptathlon gold medallist by shooting out to an early lead, clocking 13.60 in the 100m hurdles and clearing a season&rsquo;s best of 1.78m in the high jump. The 18-year-old&rsquo;s hurdles time was just outside her best of 13.55 while her high jump was just 1cm down on her best.&nbsp;
Austria&rsquo;s Sophie Kreiner is her closest pursuer on 1860 points after a 14.51 100m hurdles and 1.78m high jump, while Estonia&rsquo;s Pippi Lotta Enok sits third on 1855 points after a 14.28 clocking in the hurdles and 1.75m clearance in the high jump.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611cda5b974ad9e7fadb545b.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 On what was a cool morning at the Kasarani Stadium, Tebogo lit up the men&rsquo;s 100m heats, the Botswanan underlining his credentials for gold with a commanding performance to win in 10.22 (0.7m/s) which made him the quickest qualifier for Wednesday evening&rsquo;s semifinals.&nbsp;
Next fastest was South Africa&rsquo;s Benjamin Richardson who won his heat in 10.28 (1.0m/s). Nigeria&rsquo;s Godson Oke Oghenebrume showed he will also be in medal contention when taking victory in 10.35 (0.8m/s) while there were also wins for Cuba&rsquo;s Shainer Rengifo Montoya (10.40), Poland&rsquo;s Oliwer Wdowik (10.44) and Jamaica&rsquo;s Bryan Levell (10.43).&nbsp;
Namibia&rsquo;s Masilingi was most impressive in her heat of the women&rsquo;s 100m, powering to victory in a national U20 record of 11.20 (1.0m/s). The next quickest qualifier in the other heats was Jamaica&rsquo;s Tina Clayton, who clocked 11.50 (-0.1m/s). Camille Rutherford of Bahamas coasted through after taking victory in her heat in 11.59 (0.5m/s) while there were also wins for Nigeria&rsquo;s Praise Ofoku in 11.65 (0.5m/s) and Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana Ilic in 11.75 (-0.9m/s).&nbsp;
Nigeria&rsquo;s Imaobong Nse Uko breezed through her heat of the women&rsquo;s 400m as the quickest overall qualifier, clocking 52.33 ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Sylvia Chelangat who set a PB of 53.49. Poland&rsquo;s Kornelia Lesiewicz was also highly impressive when taking victory in an earlier heat in 52.63. Jamaica&rsquo;s Oneika McAnnuff won her heat in 54.13.&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 400m heats Mexico&rsquo;s Luis Aviles Ferreiro had a breakthrough performance when clocking a national U20 record of 45.63 to advance ahead of Italy&rsquo;s Lorenzo Benati (46.28). Botswana&rsquo;s Anthony Pesela led the field home in the next heat in a PB of 45.88, while South Africa&rsquo;s Lythe Pillay took victory in the final heat in a controlled 46.55. &nbsp;
Nigeria led the way in qualification for the mixed 4x400m final, taking victory in a championship record of 3:21.66 in their heat. Anchor runner Bamidele Ajayi produced a powerful finish to edge past Kenya&rsquo;s Elkaneh Kiprotich Chemelil in the home straight, but there was bad news awaiting the host nation after the finish when they were disqualified for a lane infringement. Behind Nigeria, Italy (3:28.00) and South Africa (3:30.43) also advanced automatically.&nbsp;
India led the way in the first heat, taking victory in 3:23.36 ahead of Czech Republic (3:24.15) and Jamaica (3:24.65). Poland and Sri Lanka also booked their places in the final as non-automatic qualifiers, with Ethiopia disqualified for a lane infringement.&nbsp;
Czech Republic&rsquo;s Dolezalek broke new ground in men&rsquo;s hammer qualification, throwing a national U20 record of 77.58m. Next best in qualifying was Greece&rsquo;s Orestis Ntousakis who threw 76.25m. Cuba&rsquo;s Ronald Mencia Zayas (74.98m), Canada&rsquo;s Ethan Katzberg (74.39m) and France&rsquo;s Jean Baptiste Bruxelle (74.06m) also secured automatic qualifying marks.&nbsp;
Cuba&rsquo;s Juan Carley Vazquez Gomez led the way in men&rsquo;s shot put qualification, throwing 19.66m to automatically advance along with Belarus&rsquo;s Yauheni Bryhi (19.28m) and authorised neutral athlete Semen Borodayev (19.22m).&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

A pair of national U20 100m records by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi highlighted the first morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21.

Records broken as action starts in style in Nairobi

French sprint hurdler Sasha Zhoya, Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke and Swedish jumper Maja Askag were among the star performers at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn, which concluded on Sunday (18) after four days of action.
Zhoya, an all-round talent who has produced incredible marks in the pole vault, 200m and decathlon in recent years, dominated the 110m hurdles. After breezing through his heat, he won his semifinal; in a marginally wind-assisted 12.98 (2.4m/s) &ndash; the fastest time ever recorded by an U20 athlete in any conditions.
He went on to comfortably win the final in a championship record of 13.05, just 0.03 shy of the PB he set earlier this month.
&ldquo;Finally my first international medal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I cannot wait for August to come for the World U20 Championships. I still have to work on some things but I have some time to correct it. I&rsquo;m glad I managed to break the championship record of my compatriot, Wilhem Belocian, who is a good friend of mine. He also holds the world U20 record &ndash; and I want to break that too.&rdquo;
Adeleke was similarly dominant in winning the 100m and 200m sprint double, going one better than her gold medal haul from the European U18 Championships three years ago. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60f49f0c266c3837b3d98f1c.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 The 18-year-old took the 100m title in 11.34 (1.4m/s) with Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana Ilic taking silver (11.42). The next day, Adeleke won the 200m by 0.65, clocking a senior Irish record of 22.90 (0.1m/s).
&ldquo;When I decided to come here, I just told myself that since I am doing double, I need to win them both,&rdquo; said Adeleke, who went on to run a 52.54 split in the 4x400m, helping Ireland to a fifth-place finish. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve done it, it&rsquo;s such a huge relief.&rdquo;
Adeleke wasn&rsquo;t the only double individual champion in Tallinn. Sweden&rsquo;s Maja Askag produced the performances of her life to secure the horizontal jumps titles.
The 18-year-old, who headed to the Estonian capital with PBs of 6.38m and 13.67m, sailed out to a national U20 record of 14.05m (0.8m/s) to win the triple jump by 40 centimetres. Two days later, she was back on the runway for the long jump final.
In an enthralling contest, she took the lead in round two with a PB of 6.54m and improved to a wind-assisted 6.60m (4.1m/s) in round three. She briefly lost her lead to Spain&rsquo;s Tessy Ebosele (6.63m) in the penultimate round, but responded with a windy 6.76m (2.5m/s) before ending her series with a marginally wind-assisted 6.80m (2.2m/s).
Ebosele held on to the silver while German duo Mikaelle Assani and Laura Raquel Muller battled for the bronze, Assani eventually taking it by one centimetre with her last-round leap of 6.62m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60f49f4ea52f6655d970c7bc.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Aside from Zhoya, Silja Kosonen was the only other athlete to break a championship record.
The Finnish hammer thrower, who set a world U20 record of 73.43m last month, was a comfortable winner with all three of her valid efforts &ndash; 71.06m, 70.47m and 69.69m &ndash; landing beyond the previous championship record, set 12 years ago. 
<h2>Double gold for British sprinters Makoyawo and Faulds</h2>
British men won all of the flat sprint titles &ndash; individual and relays &ndash; contributing five of the six gold medals won by the table-topping nation.
Toby Makoyawo won the 100m in a PB of 10.25 (1.3m/s) with French 17-year-old Jeff Erius taking silver in 10.27. Makoyawo went on to run the third leg on Britain&rsquo;s victorious 4x100m team, clocking 39.74 to take gold ahead of the Netherlands.
Edward Faulds smashed his PB in the semifinals (45.95) en route to taking gold in the 400m final in yet another PB, 45.72. Two days later, he ran a stunning anchor leg of 44.97 to carry Britain to gold in the 4x400m in 3:05.25, the fastest time in the world this year by an U20 quartet.
Derek Kinlock completed Britain&rsquo;s sweep of the men&rsquo;s sprints, taking the 200m in a PB of 20.72.
Several winners came close to breaking championship records.
Anthony Ammirati won the men&rsquo;s pole vault with 5.64m, just one centimetre shy of the championship record set by Mondo Duplantis. Ammirati was pushed all the way by 17-year-old Matvei Volkov of Belarus, who cleared 5.44m for silver before taking attempts at 5.59m and 5.64m.
Mykolas Alekna, son the Lithuanian legend Virgilijus Alekna, maintained his family&rsquo;s proud discus-throwing tradition, winning gold with 68.00m, just two centimetres short of the championship record.
Elina Tzengko&rsquo;s opening effort of 61.18m in the women&rsquo;s javelin was enough to win gold, coming within 34 centimetres of the championship record. Serbian 17-year-old Adriana Vilagos also landed her spear beyond 60 metres, taking silver with 60.44m.
His winning mark may not have been a championship record, but shot put winner Muhamet Ramadani made history by becoming Kosovo&rsquo;s first European champion in an athletics event, throwing a PB of 19.92. 
<h2>Hauttekeete and Vanninen set world U20 leads</h2>
Combined events winners Jente Hauttekeete and Saga Vanninen were among the many athletes to produce world-U20-leading performances to take gold.
Hauttekeete, who earlier this year set a world U20 indoor heptathlon record, won the decathlon with a Belgian U20 record of 8150. He took the lead after the shot put (15.31m) and never relinquished it, despite a sustained challenge from Norway&rsquo;s Sander Skotheim, who took silver with a PB of 8012.
Vanninen, winner of the European Youth Olympic Festival two years ago, was competing in her first heptathlon of the year but showed no sign of rust en route to her dominant 6271 victory, helped by PBs in the 100m hurdles (13.55), shot put (14.90m), long jump (6.34m) and 800m (2:24.62).
Other world U20 leading marks were set by Germany&rsquo;s Oliver Koletzko in the men&rsquo;s long jump (7.98m), Sweden&rsquo;s Gabriel Wallmark in the men&rsquo;s triple jump (16.39m), Ukraine&rsquo;s Artur Felfner in the men&rsquo;s javelin (78.41m) and Germany in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m (3:35.38).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

French sprint hurdler Sasha Zhoya, Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke and Swedish jumper Maja Askag were among the star performers at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn, which concluded on Sunday (18) after four days of action.

Zhoya, Adeleke and Askag shine at European U20 Championships in Tallinn

The Jamaican High School track and field extravaganza known as the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys&rsquo; and Girls&rsquo; Championships (Champs) made a successful return, without spectators, after last year&rsquo;s cancellation due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;
The five-day event, which was awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in 2019, lived up to expectations and provided plenty of excitement. Many of the top performers will now start to turn their attention to the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21 later this year.
Jamaica College and Edwin Allen High lifted the coveted crowns for the top-performing boys and girls teams respectively.
Javier Brown was unquestionably one of the standouts for the newly crowned boys&rsquo; champions Jamaica College.
Brown, a former 800m runner, stepped down in distance to compete in the 400m hurdles, an event he first experimented with on 13 March 2021.
On the penultimate day of Champs, he broke the 16-19 age group 400m hurdles championship record by 0.07 with 49.86. 24 hours later, the 19-year-old returned to win the 400m final in a personal best of 45.75.
&ldquo;I am extremely happy,&rdquo; said Brown, who was born in 2001 and so will be too old to compete in Nairobi. &ldquo;I was very confident after winning the 400m hurdles. My strategy for the 400m final was not to go too hard around the final curve because I wanted to save my energy and finish strong in the home straight.&rdquo;
Strong headwinds greeted all the sprinters for the 100m finals, but it didn&rsquo;t detract from the excitement.
The boys&rsquo; 16-19 event featured a clash between two of the island&rsquo;s most precocious sprinters for the first time at these championships.
Antonio Watson, the 2018 world U18 400m champion, stepped down in distance and looked peerless throughout the rounds. His main threat Sachin Dennis last competed in an individual event at these championships in 2018. On that occasion, he sped to victory in a personal and world U18 best of 10.20, and then injury hampered his progress.
The stage was set for the grand finale.
The fit-again Dennis, who was drawn in lane four, got a more favourable start than Watson, who sat next to him in lane five. Kingston College&rsquo;s Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, running in lane one, led for more than 70 metres and seriously threatened to pull off a major upset, but Dennis and Watson came storming through the middle with Dennis crossing the finish line in 10.53 (-2.3m/s) with Watson a few strides behind in 10.58. Nkrumie (10.65) managed to hold off Dennis&rsquo;s fast-finishing teammate Conroy Jones 10.68 for third.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I felt very nervous at the start,&rdquo; said Dennis, who was competing for the last time in these championships for St Elizabeth Technical High School. &ldquo;My aim was just to finish the race healthy.&rdquo;
Dennis&rsquo;s win completed a clean sweep in the 100m sprints for his school following victories by his teammates Tramaine Todd 11.03 (-1.7 m/s) and Orlando Wint 10.76 (-2.0 m/s) in the 10-13 and 14-15 age group finals respectively.
Clayton twins Tia and Tina had contrasting fortunes in the 15-16 girls&rsquo; 100m.
They had been aiming for a 1-2 finish, but Tia was disqualified for a false start. Despite the disappointment, Tina regained her composure and then produced a scorching run to win in a season&rsquo;s best of 11.38 (-2.1 m/s).&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was very disappointed at the start,&rdquo; said Tina, whose PB of 11.27 was set in 2019 when she was 14 years old. &ldquo;I was expecting to finish second behind my sister as that&rsquo;s her favourite event. When she got disqualified, I knew I had to do it for her.&rdquo;
Aalliyah Francis of Rusea&rsquo;s High school won the 200m/400m double in the space of two hours in the girls&rsquo; 17-18 age group. Francis needed a lifetime best of 52.51 to hold off a determined Garriel White (52.77) from Hydel High in the 400m. Francis duly wrapped up the 200m unchallenged in 23.85 (-3.1 m/s).
Francis&rsquo;s teammate Lavanya Williams secured the sprint double in the girls&rsquo; aged 13-14 group, winning the 100m in 12.18 (-2.4 m/s) and 200m in 24.50 (-1.3 m/s).
Previously unheralded Chevonne Hall of Edwin Allen High caused an upset in the boys&rsquo; 16-19 1500m. In a formidable front-running display, he won in a personal best of 3:59.70 ahead of Kenyan-born Aron Tanui, representing Kingston College, in 3:59.86.
Hall showed that his 1500m triumph was no fluke when he defeated another quality field in the 800m final in a championships record of 1:48.58.
Edwin Allen High won two of the four female sprint relays, with the most impressive victory coming in the girls aged 15-16 group. The team comprising Aliyah Clarke, Tonie-Ann Forbes and the Clayton twins set a championship record of 44.81.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling. This record means a lot to us,&rdquo; said Tina Clayton, who ran the second leg. &ldquo;We are grateful because we started training in late October and normally we begin in September. Lastly, I&rsquo;m happy my sister was on the anchor to get her gold medal.&rdquo;
St Jago High took the boys&rsquo; 16-19 4x100m in 39.75 ahead of St Elizabeth Technical (39.82).&nbsp;
Elsewhere, Shantae Foreman&rsquo;s rise continues &ndash; quite literally &ndash; in the jumps. The 18-year-old St Jago athlete enjoyed an emphatic victory in the high jump. She recorded first-time clearances at 1.70m, 1.75m, 1.78m, 1.81m and 1.84m. Her only failure came at 1.88m, a height that would have erased the championship record (1.87m) set two years ago. Foreman collected a second gold medal after sailing out to a personal best of 6.43m (0.9 m/s) in the long jump.
Kingston College claimed the top two spots in the boys&rsquo; 16-19 discus. Ralford Mullings threw 61.92m in the fifth round, the third farthest of his career, while his teammate Javon Osbourne registered a lifetime best 60.06m.
Noel Francis for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

The Jamaican High School track and field extravaganza known as the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships (Champs) made a successful return, without spectators, after last year’s cancellation due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.  

South Africa and Jamaica shatter world U20 4x100m records in Nairobi

Kenya win three gold medals on the final day in Nairobi

Askag completes impressive jumps 'double double' in Nairobi

Medal double for De Klerk, while Kapitolnik makes history for Israel in Nairobi

Zhoya smashes world U20 record again as Mboma, Onwuzurike lead African 200m sweep in Nairobi