Tickets for the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 are now available for purchase. Fans can buy tickets at <a href="http://www.tracktowntickets.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TrackTownTickets.com</a>, with five-day packages starting at just US$75.00 and three-day weekend packages starting at US$50.00.
The World Athletics U20 Championships return to <a href="https://hayward.uoregon.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hayward Field at the University of Oregon</a> from 5-9 August, welcoming more than 1,700 junior athletes from nearly 200 countries to compete on the global stage.
For future Olympians, their path often goes through the World Athletics U20 Championships. The last iteration of the World Athletics U20 Championships was held in Lima, Peru, where more than 50 athletes from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were eligible to compete.
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<a href="https://am.ticketmaster.com/haywardtrackandfield/buy?id=NDk5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/699ede6ff478bd78049cc1b7.png" alt="Tickets for World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 Now On Sale" /></a>
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World Athletics U20 Championships

The World Athletics U20 Championships return to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon from 5-9 August, welcoming more than 1,700 junior athletes from nearly 200 countries to compete on the global stage.

Tickets for World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 now on sale

Tickets for the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 go on sale Wednesday, February 25th, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Fans can purchase tickets at <a href="http://www.tracktowntickets.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.TrackTownTickets.com</a>, with five-day packages starting at just $75.00.
The World Athletics U20 Championships return to <a href="https://hayward.uoregon.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hayward Field at the University of Oregon</a> from August 5th - 9th, welcoming more than 1,700 junior athletes from nearly 200 countries to compete on the global stage. For future Olympians, their path often goes through the World Athletics U20 Championships. The last iteration of the World Athletics U20 Championships was held in Lima, Peru, where more than 50 athletes from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were eligible to compete.

Tickets for the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 go on sale Wednesday, February 25th, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Fans can purchase tickets at www.TrackTownTickets.com, with five-day packages starting at just $75.00.

Tickets for World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 On Sale February 25th

By Owen Murray
Michal Rada is many things.
Before one of the biggest races of his life, he was playing a videogame with his friend.
In a room in Tampere, Finland, in between the semifinal and final 400m hurdles race of the 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships, Rada and Marek V&aacute;ňa worked together. In less than a day, they&rsquo;ll cross the finish line in the stadium. Rada will be the championship record holder. V&aacute;ňa, his friend formed from three years of competition, will watch him do it (and secure third place, too).
Their project in between the races was a careful, painstaking process that requires honest attention and faces close to screens. It&rsquo;s relaxing, if you ask them. The two teenage boys directed their avatars. They spent hours of their time in between races focused on the laptops. Then, finally, they reached the last stage of the project.
They&rsquo;re two of their nation&rsquo;s best U20 hurdlers. Rada was stressed about the weight of expectation on tomorrow&rsquo;s race. That didn&rsquo;t matter then. What mattered to them was their game of Minecraft.
Michal Rada is many things.
A teenager. A twin. Yes, now a Minecraft aficionado. He spends much of his time talking about connection. His twin sister, Nina Radov&aacute;, is a hurdler, too. With his eyes &mdash;&nbsp;their eyes &mdash;&nbsp;on the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon this year, Rada is thinking more about those bonds. He doesn&rsquo;t remember his races, but the memories come flooding back as soon as he crosses the finish line.
What he&rsquo;s seen over the past two years are second&ndash;place finishes that turned into first-place medals. He&rsquo;s grinned with his twin sister and his friend on the finish line in Tampere. Next is a return to the world stage. Rada took silver as a relative outsider two years ago in Lima. This year, he&rsquo;s hoping to head to Eugene as Europe&rsquo;s best. The part that matters the most to him, though, is the connection.
It starts with Radov&aacute; (even though she knows, in her own words, &ldquo;nothing about Minecraft.&rdquo;)
The two older siblings &mdash; they have a 14-year-old sister and a six-year old brother, both in athletics &mdash; agree that their least favorite question about being a twin is how far apart they were born. It&rsquo;s because the people who ask him know that Radov&aacute; was first (Rada: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not annoyed about it&hellip;but she&rsquo;s older, and everyone knows it.&rdquo;).
The rest of it is, in Rada&rsquo;s words, &ldquo;actually amazing.&rdquo;
For now, he and Radov&aacute; are around each other constantly. When Rada broke his arm on his skateboard, he hid it for two days, only giving in when it hurt too much (per Radov&aacute;). They&rsquo;re both high schoolers &mdash; she&rsquo;s the one who remembers when assignments are due. In July 2024, they won gold medals minutes apart at the European Athletics U18 Championships. When they compete at the same meets, it&rsquo;s not easy on his heart.
&ldquo;It is stressful, to be honest,&rdquo; Rada said. &ldquo;Because you not only have to think about your race, but because we're twins, we&rsquo;ve been living with each other our whole lives, you're also thinking about her, about how she feels, what she's thinking.
&ldquo;But when she's doing well, your joy is also two times bigger.&rdquo;
Radov&aacute; said something similar.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really like racing before him,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I like it more after, so I know how he ended up. She remembers watching his race in Tampere, getting ready for her own, and seeing his effort. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s stressful,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But you have double happiness after.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s nothing new. Their parents signed them up for athletics as kids because they wanted a sport that the twins could do together. Since then, Rada said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re basically in love with this sport.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Since childhood, Michal wanted to win in any activity,&rdquo; his coach, Jiř&iacute; Couf, said in writing through a translator. &ldquo;The whole family still competes in everything&hellip;and that ability, concentration and focus on victory and the desire to succeed since childhood certainly helps Michal in the present.&rdquo;
The race that Rada calls one of the &ldquo;greatest races of my entire career,&rdquo; though, came when he finished second.
In Lima two years ago, a month after he and Radov&aacute; won gold in Bansk&aacute; Bystrica, Slovakia at the European Athletics U20 Championships, Rada entered the U20 400m hurdles field as a relative outsider. By his own estimation, he was more focused on qualifying for the final than any thought of winning it.
He&rsquo;d taken the European U18 crown with a 49.42-second win. Despite that, the teenager wasn&rsquo;t expected to shine at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima a month later &mdash;&nbsp;he was just focused on getting in the final.
When he qualified for the final with a 49.36 world U20-leading time in the semifinal race of the World Athletics U20 Championships, his focus changed.
&ldquo;Who knows?&rdquo; he thought. &ldquo;Maybe I won't have this opportunity ever again.&rdquo;
After he rumbled across the finish line in the final, he landed on his hands and knees, waiting for the time. When it came, he looked up. Second place, by 0.04 seconds,&nbsp;in a Czech U20 record 49.30.
Michal Rada is many things. After that race, he was the world U20 vice champion.
He was happy, too.
&ldquo;It was bittersweet for me the first one or two weeks,&rdquo; Rada said. &ldquo;Because I knew that it was super close to the gold medal. But in general, I'm so happy for it.&rdquo;
He grinned nonetheless as the Czech flag expanded underneath his arms.
A year later, Rada made it to the European U20 stage for the first time. By that point, he and V&aacute;ňa were good friends. They&rsquo;d risen to the top of the 400m hurdles pool, and Rada arrived in Tampere as a favorite with eyes on the record books.
That&rsquo;s why he was so stressed, he thinks. He knew he was the favorite, and that directed his thoughts to what would happen if he didn&rsquo;t win.
That&rsquo;s where the game comes in.
In the mixed zone after the semifinal, Rada smiled during <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43wogmDzrnY">an interview</a> as V&aacute;ňa explained that they&rsquo;d prepared for their race by playing the game in their room all day.
&ldquo;We were like, &lsquo;Yo, we both have our laptops here, so let's download Minecraft and we can play together,&rdquo; Rada said now. &ldquo;And since then, we're playing nonstop every day.&rsquo;&rdquo;
They downloaded the game before the semifinal race &mdash;&nbsp;&rdquo;We were playing the whole afternoon, for five or six hours straight,&rdquo; Rada said. They ran the semifinal, qualified &mdash;&nbsp;Rada ran so well that, &ldquo;Perhaps it&rsquo;s a pity that there wasn&rsquo;t a final that day,&rdquo; Couf said &mdash;&nbsp;and hopped back on the game for another four hours before they finally slept.
They woke up the next day with the race not scheduled until the night&hellip;and played all day. By the time they left Finland, they&rsquo;d beaten it.
It was more about relaxing, Rada thinks, than the game itself. They were stressed and looking for a way to take their minds away from the races (&ldquo;We were so bored,&rdquo; he said). He thinks of it as a way to talk with friends. That&rsquo;s what he and V&aacute;ňa were doing in their room before the race.
In his room at home, Rada hangs his medals in a long line on the wall. In order to remember the races, though, he has to jog his memory.
&ldquo;Every time I compete on a big stage, I basically cannot remember anything,&rdquo; he said. From the gun to the tape, it&rsquo;s a void. Instead, in order to learn, he rewatches old videos of his races, almost every day.
&ldquo;I repeat them, almost every day, trying to be the best version of me,&rdquo; Rada said.
What he noticed before Tampere was his trailing leg &mdash;&nbsp;vital in the hurdles events &mdash;&nbsp;was mistimed. He figures that it&rsquo;s what lost him the race in Lima. That year was spent on drills, time counting steps between hurdles and slowing down. It&rsquo;s not just running the race over and over. It&rsquo;s technique &mdash;&nbsp;careful, painstaking process with honest attention. His face watches the screen as the videos of his old races play.
His memories start again after he crossed the finish line in Tampere. What he remembers: a win &mdash;&nbsp;one he was expected to take&nbsp;&mdash; but a championship-record time to pair with it.
&ldquo;I was nervous at the final, after all, it was already the third run in a row,&rdquo; Couf said. &ldquo;I knew that Michal wanted to break the championship record and the European record. I believed that Michal would give an excellent performance. He did well in the final, and most importantly, the eighth obstacle came out very well and I already knew that he could get closer to the record. In the end, only the championship record came out, but as I know Michal, he will strive for the European record this year.&rdquo;
With Eugene on the horizon, Rada is ready. It&rsquo;s no fault of memory &mdash;&nbsp;he&rsquo;s never crossed a finish line in the U.S. He&rsquo;ll have connections anyway; he&rsquo;s expecting Radov&aacute; to qualify &ldquo;no problem.&rdquo; Should they both race in Eugene, the focus will be on a new title: world U20 champion. He was 0.04 seconds off the European U20 record when he won in Tampere last year. He&rsquo;s been watching the videos back.
Michal Rada is many things. He wants to go to university after high school, because he thinks that he can&rsquo;t focus his life on just track and field. He wants to try American fast food &mdash; especially Wingstop. He&rsquo;s happy (&ldquo;Really, really, really, really happy&rdquo;) that his family has been by his side the whole time.&nbsp; His coach sees it, too.
&ldquo;Family and friends are very important in Michal&rsquo;s life,&rdquo; Couf said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about his sports development, but also about his mental development.&rdquo;
Before the final in Lima, Rada thought he might not have the opportunity again. Before the final in Tampere, he pushed past nerves.
Before Eugene, he&rsquo;s prepared for another chance.

Rada, the world U20 vice champion over 400m hurdles, is chasing the gold medal this year. He’s quieting the nerves and embracing connection with the help of a videogame and his sister Nina Radová, who doubles his joy.

How Minecraft and a twin sister helped Czech hurdler Michal Rada overcome stress in pursuit of record-breaking times

By Owen Murray
The last time Jasmine Robinson was nobody, she figures, was a little less than two years ago. It was the day before her high school state championship track meet, at Grisham Stadium in Carrollton, Georgia: 8 May 2024.
The now-senior, national champion dual hurdler was a sophomore then. Nobody had commented on her TikToks, telling her that they&rsquo;d seen her race yet. Nobody was offering official visits to SEC schools yet. Nobody thought that she could catch them yet.
By the end of the meet, nobody could catch her. She&rsquo;d broken the state-record time en route to a title in the 300m hurdles, laid down the 19th-best time in preps history in the 400m hurdles and grabbed another win in the 200m final. By the end of the meet on 11 May, she figures, she was someone.
Now, she&rsquo;s flipping the script. Robinson committed to the University of Georgia in November. She thrived in high school as someone everyone knows; attached to her name are state and Nike Outdoor Nationals titles, multiple state Gatorade Player of the Year wins and selection to the Nike Elite training group. She&rsquo;s ready to move on.
&ldquo;I'm not saying I'm sick of high school, but I'm definitely ready to just get out there. Track-wise, I'm just excited,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Because I do better when I'm nobody.&rdquo;
When she&rsquo;s nobody?
&ldquo;I want to be nobody again in the track world,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I'm looking forward to it&hellip;I think it fuels me to be nobody,&nbsp;because now I'm in Georgia. Everyone &mdash;&nbsp;I think most people &mdash;&nbsp;know I'm Jasmine.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s true. Robinson has been busy writing her story over the length of a preps career that rose from that Georgia state meet in 2024 to national finals in Eugene, Oregon and the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru. A pair of hurdles&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;one in Georgia and another in Lima &mdash; have held her back momentarily, but she&rsquo;s ready to run a new story at the NCAA level for the Bulldogs in the fall, fueled by a perspective closer to what she felt on the track in Carrollton.
&ldquo;I want to just go on the track like, &lsquo;Who is that? Who is that?&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But then, &lsquo;Oh, whoa, what is she pulling off right now?&rsquo;
And then, boom.
&ldquo;I'm going to be Jasmine Robinson again,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I want it to be a new story.&rdquo;
Robinson remembers two races from the last time she thinks she was nobody. The first hurdle that delayed her was there, in Carrollton in 2024.
She started to notice something in the first of the two races, the qualifier for the 300m hurdles final. It was the first one where she was ahead big, and where she felt like everything flowed perfectly.
Almost everything. She cleared the last hurdle on her left leg, not the right like she&rsquo;d planned to. She ran 41.03 &mdash; still first place by over a second.
&ldquo;Everyone was like, &lsquo;Oh, that would have been in 39 (seconds). That would have been 39, if you stayed on your dominant leg."
She realized they were right. She went into the state race thinking that she just had to run the same race, and pick up the right leg on the last hurdle instead. In the final, she did.
The result?
&ldquo;Boom. 39. So excited,&rdquo; she said.
The personal goals she continues breaking start with a wall in her room, where she keeps goals written on sticky notes. Every time she adds a new one, it&rsquo;s supposed to go on the wall. It&rsquo;s not something that started with a moment &mdash;&nbsp;it just &ldquo;randomly happened,&rdquo; she said.
It came from something she remembered where she was told that, in order to make things happen, she needed to write them down. It wasn&rsquo;t enforced there, but she wasn&rsquo;t sharing them with anyone regardless. They were just for her.
&ldquo;I sleep by my wall,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I see it every day. It&rsquo;s nice to wake up by what I want to do.&rdquo;
Robinson qualified for her first international final later that year. She and her club coach, Blane Williams, traveled to Lima, Peru in August 2024 for the World Athletics U20 Championships. The second hurdle lived there.
She doesn&rsquo;t remember anything between the gun and the final turn. On the finish line, she was thinking, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m getting silver.&rsquo; She made it into the post-race hallways, near the media area, where she was waiting for the boys winners to come through, when she saw her replay on the TV, and a notice. She&rsquo;d been disqualified for hooking a hurdle.
&ldquo;I'm like, &lsquo;It can't be real, it can't be real.&rsquo;&rdquo;
With her head down, she grabbed her bag. Williams was waiting outside the checkout area. He remembers, too.
&ldquo;I just grabbed her and intercepted her right away from having to come back in and deal with the crowd,&rdquo; he said. "I just shielded her from all that, and took her to a private spot where she could get her emotions out and we could talk a little bit.&rdquo;
He took her jacket and put it over her head. Robinson remembers him saying, &ldquo;Before you go back out there, let's get you right.&rdquo;
&ldquo;He let me cry it out,&rdquo; she said.
&ldquo;I just told her that this is just one day in a whole lot of days that she has on the track,&rdquo; Williams said. &rdquo;This thing happened, you can't redo it at this point. We just move on.
She did. Three days or so after the race, Robinson saw her photos. She decided to post on Instagram, like she normally does, despite the disqualification. It wasn&rsquo;t going to be a sad post, she decided.
&ldquo;Revenge tour starts today,&rdquo; she wrote. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re going worldwide with it.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I knew I was 16 (years old), so I definitely had another chance to go again,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I'm not sad about it, but I think that it kind of built character on me because I don't want to&hellip;I'm not going out like that.&rdquo;
She didn't.
Robinson hasn&rsquo;t made the time to change the sticky notes from last season yet, but right now, the wall has paper goals that she thinks she met on it. Her individual time goals are there, but so is one for making it to the US U20 Championships.
She could&rsquo;ve pulled that note down in July, when she made it to the meet in Eugene. There, she won a haul of medals: both Nike Outdoor Nationals hurdles titles, the U20 100m hurdles championship and silver in the U20 400m hurdles final. It&rsquo;s not the end of the revenge tour, but it&rsquo;s a start&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;and it&rsquo;s fuel for her belief.
&ldquo;I always say, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s one thing to say you&rsquo;re going to do something,&rsquo;&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;&lsquo;But to actually, deep down in your soul and heart believe you&rsquo;re going to do something is different than doing it all the time.&rsquo;&rdquo;
She needs an example to really explain the feeling.
&ldquo;All right, let's just say something crazy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I'm just going to use this as an example: Let's say that I just keep saying to people, &lsquo;I'm gonna run the world record.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Okay. She&rsquo;s going to run the world record.
&ldquo;I have it in my head now, &lsquo;I'm going to run the world record,&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But (unless it&rsquo;s) deep down in my soul &mdash; I can say it all the time in my head, I can say it out loud &mdash; I don't think you can do it unless you believe it in your heart, too.&rdquo;
Robinson committed to the University of Georgia on 30 November. It's one of Williams&rsquo; dreams, for all of his athletes.
&ldquo;That, to me, is a life changing gift,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Whether they go to the Olympics or the pros or all that stuff, that's gravy, but at some point they have to get a job, so they need that education.&rdquo;
Robinson is aiming to get back to Hayward Field, over and over. Her next goal on the revenge tour is the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26, in August. On the way there, she&rsquo;ll tuck a first season in the NCAA (and maybe another trip to Hayward Field, for the NCAA Outdoor Championships) under her belt.
Will she be nobody when she gets there? She doesn&rsquo;t know. One of Robinson&rsquo;s first coaches told Williams that, &ldquo;She's the kind of person that may not get out on you from the start, but she's going to catch you and run you down. I don&rsquo;t want her to be that way &mdash;&nbsp;I want her to go and get out (in front). But if that&rsquo;s going to be who you are, if you&rsquo;re going to be a seeker and a destroyer, then do that.
&ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not a nobody, you know?&rdquo;
When asked to describe Robinson, Williams said she has a &ldquo;big heart.&rdquo; It was working to complete her world-record example of belief.
&ldquo;It's not even just envisioning it, either,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;You can't just envision. You have to be crazy about it. You have to eat, sleep, breathe and know &mdash;&nbsp;know &mdash; that you know that you can do it.&rdquo;

Robinson lit the world on fire with a preps career that led to the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2024 and a commitment to the University of Georgia in 2025. Now, though, she wants to chase the field back down from an old perspective — and tell a new story in the process.

Why star high school hurdler Jasmine Robinson wants ‘to be nobody again’

The full event schedule for the world’s return to Oregon has been announced by World Athletics and TrackTown USA. The 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships will take place August 5-9, 2026, at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.

Full Event Schedule Announced for World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26

It took a second for 16-year-old <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cooper-lutkenhaus-15152457" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cooper Lutkenhaus</a>, sitting at home with the Cowboys game playing on TV, to remember the last time he was bored. It&rsquo;s not something the owner of the U18 800m world-best time usually gets the luxury of, but it happens every so often.
&ldquo;Maybe this morning,&rdquo; he decided, &ldquo;because I didn't have to run today, so I was kind of just laying around, but I'm going out tonight to buy a couple of clothing items that I might need for school this week.&rdquo;
Over the span of his sophomore year of high school, Lutkenhaus broke the high school 800m record three times. He leaped to the forefront of the track and field world, and went from high school cross country to the World Athletics Championships. Over the next year, he&rsquo;ll work to qualify for the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26, where he could return to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon to continue that climb. His coach, Chris Capeau, describes him as &ldquo;relentless&rdquo; (a word he used six times in his interview) but he also calls him &ldquo;joyful&rdquo; and a kid. Together, they&rsquo;re walking the line between high schooler and world record-holder &ndash; and they&rsquo;re winning.
&ldquo;People will kind of put these hard things on him,&rdquo; Capeau said. &ldquo;The good part is it doesn't faze him. He wants the bar to be higher. He wants the standard to be raised.&rdquo;
But Lutkenhaus is still 16, and so the night before he would run in the biggest race of his life, at the USATF Outdoor Championships, he was a few blocks away at the perfect place: Track Town Pizza. The marquee board for the nearly 50-year-old local spot has swapped between a Prefontaine Classic advertisement and one reading &ldquo;Wear Green and Yell &lsquo;O&rsquo;,&rdquo; and he was eating what he called &ldquo;probably not the best day-before food&rdquo; and sitting with his family.
It wasn&rsquo;t the athlete centre that was set up south of Hayward Field, with cold tubs and mini fridges full of Gatorade. It wasn&rsquo;t the hotel with rows of conference rooms and a bed. It wasn&rsquo;t glamorous, but it&rsquo;s wooden booths, TVs on every wall and framed Oregon football newspapers.
It&rsquo;s tradition for a family that has been doing this for a while. This isn&rsquo;t his first time in Eugene &ndash; not even the first time this summer. That was a little less than a month before, when he ran 1:45.45 on a rainy Saturday at Hayward Field to break his own high school record, which he initially set a few months earlier at 1:46.26, a couple of hundred miles north at the Brooks PR Invitational.
They&rsquo;re also there because the Lutkenhaus family is together. It&rsquo;s not often they get to be in one place. The three boys &ndash; George Jr., Andrew and Cooper &ndash; are split between college and high school. This weekend, they all flew in.
&ldquo;I feel like I've been in Eugene so many times now, that it almost feels like almost a home track besides the one I run on every day,&rdquo; Lutkenhaus said. &ldquo;But the USAs trip was&hellip;honestly, I think it went perfect.&rdquo;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6901478e7417af61aaa4686c.jpg" alt="Cooper Lutkenhaus and Bryce Hoppel at the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon." />
<div style="text-align: right;">Cooper Lutkenhaus and Bryce Hoppel at the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. (<img style="width: 16px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline;" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,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" alt="photographer icon" /> Patrick Smith / Getty Images)</div>
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The next day, Lutkenhaus stood on the red warmup track outside Hayward Field. Normally, what&rsquo;s notable is that it circles six tennis courts and a turf soccer field used by students. For the weekend, it was crowded with his heroes. Somewhere among them was the 800m pack &ndash; which included Lutkenhaus&rsquo; favorite runner, American record-holder Bryce Hoppel.
&ldquo;I want to be able to be a person like that,&rdquo; Lutkenhaus said. &ldquo;I look up to Bryce. To be able to see him doing so well in his career and trying to do what he can do&hellip;It's really cool.&rdquo;
Two years ago, Lutkenhaus saw Hoppel run in the 800m final in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He&rsquo;s pretty sure he was watching on his phone at school. It&rsquo;s sort of what he does.
&ldquo;If you go on my school computer and go on YouTube, there's just (videos of) 1500m and 800m finals, from Olympics and World Championships,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just love to watch the sport for what it is.&rdquo;
When he&rsquo;s lifting weights outside, he&rsquo;ll turn on full runs of collegiate 10,000m races. &ldquo;I just love to see the sport, especially when there's Americans in the race, that's always more exciting to get to see some of the best athletes in the world compete.&rdquo;
The championship race itself is well documented, but it deserves some perspective. Before 2025, five US men had ever run faster than 1:43. On the day of the race, Lutkenhaus&rsquo; high school record (1:45.45) was two seconds behind the collegiate record (1:43.25).
He closed the final 200m of the final race in 25.42 seconds &ndash; faster than any other runner by more than a second. He surged from seventh to second, and passed Hoppel near the line. His final time, 1:42.27, is the U18 world best, the fourth-fastest ever by a US athlete and puts him joint 19th in world history.
After they crossed the line, 22-hundredths of a second apart, Hoppel made a beeline for Lutkenhaus.
&ldquo;Keep it up,&rdquo; he told him. &ldquo;I think you can be one of the best ever.&rdquo;
Some time before Lutkenhaus was in the media tent, Hoppel was there, too. He had a bronze medal around his neck, but he was being asked about the second-place finisher. He waved his hands.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how to even fathom that yet,&rdquo; Hoppel said to a scrum of reporters. &ldquo;I was telling someone earlier, I don&rsquo;t even know what I was doing at 16.&rdquo;
The mixed zone is a difficult place to be bored, especially when most of the athletes are being asked about you. Lutkenhaus walked on the hard flooring to the end of the backdrop, where the scrum was stacked three-deep and two-high (someone is on a chair, trying to get an angle with their phone). The first question came:
&ldquo;Did you have any idea how fast you were going?&rdquo;
The next three weeks were a blur. He walked out of the tent and got on a flight six hours later (&ldquo;I slept maybe an hour in a span of 48,&rdquo; he said). There would be no time to be bored; he called Capeau from a gas station in Eugene to recap the weekend. Later that month, he&rsquo;d walk through the newly-open door and sign his first professional contract with Nike.
&ldquo;It maybe took three weeks before I could really relax and look back at everything,&rdquo; Lutkenhaus said.
During those three weeks, Hoppel asked for Lutkenhaus&rsquo; phone number. He made the call. They talked about the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo &ndash; Lutkenhaus asked if there was anything he needed to bring &ndash; and then got to the race.
&ldquo;It was just being able to hear from him, saying your life's going to be pretty crazy,&rdquo; Lutkenhaus said. &ldquo;Especially those weeks leading into world championships, which definitely weren&rsquo;t (chill). They were crazy.&rdquo;
His race in Tokyo was well-documented, too. Lutkenhaus finished seventh in his heat, in 1:47.68, and was eliminated after jumping early into the outside lanes and running most of his race there. He calls it &ldquo;the worst race tactics I&rsquo;ve had&rdquo; but thinks he&rsquo;s learned from it.
When Lutkenhaus and Capeau got into an Uber to travel to a USATF banquet the next afternoon, it was quiet for a while. The race had sat with them for almost a day. Then, Capeau started talking.
&ldquo;I forget how I worded it, but it was almost something like, &lsquo;Hard moment, but what an incredible year, right?&rsquo;&rdquo; Capeau said. &ldquo;The moment sucked, but the year? Oh, my god. Tell me about it.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the battle, as Capeau described it, of putting the year in perspective. One year ago, Lutkenhaus was still a star &mdash; but one looking at college offers. In the Uber, he was a teenage World Championship qualifier less than a month removed from turning pro.
In the car, Lutkenhaus started going on his phone and counting the number of races he&rsquo;d been through in the past year. He went through the list, and it crossed 30.
&ldquo;If we ended my year at Nike Outdoor Nationals, when I ran 1:45, I would have been happy with it,&rdquo; Lutkenhaus said. &ldquo;It would have been a great year, but then it just kept on going. I think if you counted my cross country season, I was racing for over a year&hellip;that's a long time.&rdquo;
They sat together and took time to put the year in perspective.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re both still kind of bummed,&rdquo; Capeau said. &ldquo;You have to be able to file it away. You&rsquo;ve got to have the second to let the emotion be real, but also (say), &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s the things we did do. Here&rsquo;s the success we did have. Here&rsquo;s the blessing of this moment &mdash;&nbsp;it doesn&rsquo;t feel good, but it allows us to grow up with it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
For now, though, he&rsquo;s got homecoming. The Cowboys game is on TV, and he&rsquo;s sitting in his house in Justin, Texas doing his best to take time to be bored. It hasn&rsquo;t been easy. For now, he&rsquo;s &ldquo;off&rdquo; &ndash; and that means something to Capeau.
&ldquo;When we're off, we're off,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;We don't talk about racing, we don't talk about training. We just are off. He's just out there riding the bike with other guys and talking to them, and goes back to being a 16-year-old kid.&rdquo;
In less than a year, he&rsquo;ll aim to return to Hayward Field to run at the place that feels like home again, in the World Athletics U20 Championships. There&rsquo;s no longer a lack of expectation for the soon-to-be 17-year-old.
He went to another school&rsquo;s homecoming last week, but he&rsquo;s not making it to his own this year &ndash; instead, he&rsquo;ll be in Lubbock for the Texas Tech football game. On 9 October, he took up his newest job, as the Northwest High School Cross Country team manager. He walked around the course with Capeau. He took the obligatory photos. He joked.
&ldquo;I think about it in the aspect of that he can absolutely go and train with 28-year-olds,&rdquo; Capeau said. &ldquo;But also, it's like, is a 28-year-old going to be a 16-year-old's best friend? Probably not, probably shouldn't, right? What he does get to do with the other 16-year-olds on his team is he gets to laugh.&rdquo;
Sometimes, he gets to be bored, too. It&rsquo;s what happens when you win.
Owen Murray for&nbsp;WU20 Oregon 26
</div>
</div>

800m star Cooper Lutkenhaus sprinted to the top of the mountain over the past year. As he looks toward Oregon 26, he can take time to rest, too.

‘He wants the standard to be raised’: Lutkenhaus’ journey into the teenage track and field spotlight

The qualification systems for three 2026 World Athletics Series events have been published, following their approval by the World Athletics Council in Tokyo:
&bull; World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 (20-22 March 2026) &bull; World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 (2-3 May 2026) &bull; World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 (5-9 August 2026) 
The qualification window for the World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, runs from 1 November 2025 to 8 March 2026, with qualification based on entry standards and top indoor performance lists.&nbsp;
Individual athletes (except for combined events) can qualify in one of three ways:
&bull; By achieving the entry standard within the qualification period &bull; By World Indoor Tour wild card &bull; By virtue of their position in the top performances list
A Road to Kujawy Pomorze list will be published every week on the World Athletics website, starting from 1 December 2025.
<a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/68e618104372a24493d75cf0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 qualification system and entry standards</a> 
The top eight teams in the relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 automatically qualified for the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana. The remaining spots will be filled via top lists from 1 January 2025 to 5 April 2026, with host nation Botswana automatically entered in all events. A maximum of 24 teams will be entered in each event. In the mixed 4x100m, all 24 teams will be selected from top lists.
The World Relays in Gaborone will be the main qualification event for relay events at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest and the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. The top six teams in the mixed 4x100m and mixed 4x400m in Gaborone qualify for Budapest, while the top 12 teams in every event in Gaborone qualify for Beijing.
<a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/69813399354a558fc3af16b6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full WRE Gaborone 26 qualification system</a> 
For the World U20 Championships in Oregon, USA, the qualification system is solely based on entry standards, with a qualification period running from 1 October 2025 to 26 July 2026. The event will feature the addition of the mixed 4x100m and the 5000m race walk, which will replace the 10,000m race walk.
<a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/68e6185d4372a24493d75cf6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full WU20 Oregon 26 qualification system and entry standards</a>
&nbsp;
This press release was updated on 2 February 2026 to include a new version of the WRE Gaborone 26 qualification system
&nbsp;

The qualification systems for three 2026 World Athletics Series events have been published, following their approval by the World Athletics Council in Tokyo

Qualification systems for WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26, WRE Gaborone 26 and WU20 Oregon 26 published

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearly 40 U20 athletes reached the field of play representing 29 countries at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 with two individual medals highlighting the U20 field.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the women&rsquo;s hammer throw, China&rsquo;s rising star, <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jiale Zhang<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> put together a series well beyond her years to become the youngest-ever medalist in the event. The 18-year-old thrower, who was third at the World Athletics U20 championships in Lima last year, won the Chinese National Championships in August with a world U20 record* 77.24m throw. In Tokyo, Zhang managed a 72.02m toss for a comfortable qualification to the final, where she went on to land three throws over 74m. Her bronze medal attempt of 77.10m came in the final round, solidifying her position on the podium behind teammate Jie Zhao and Canadian gold medalist Camryn Rogers.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kenya&rsquo;s <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edmund Serem<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who made his name known on the Diamond League circuit this year, was a favorite going into the men&rsquo;s steeplechase final, but had to face the most competitive field he&rsquo;d seen in his career. The 17-year-old did not shy away from the tactics of a more seasoned field. He set the pace alongside Germany&rsquo;s Frederik Ruppert through the first half of the race until USA&rsquo;s Daniel Michalski pushed the lead pack&rsquo;s pace as they reached the final 800m. Geordie Beamish led a sprint to the finish and Serem was able to hold on to bronze behind Beamish&rsquo;s winning 8:33.88 and two-time Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali&rsquo;s 8:33.95. Serem&rsquo;s 8:34.56 was good for bronze in his first global championship showing.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the heats of the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, 19-year-old <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kai Liu<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> split 44.87 to lead a Chinese quartet to a national record of 3:00.77. This came after splitting 45.30 as the third leg of the mixed relay, which clocked a 3:13.96 for 14th overall.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Portugal&rsquo;s <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pedro Afonso<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ran an impressive 44.46 lead leg in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m heats to put his squad in position to break their national record. The quartet clocked a 2:59.70 to move on to the rainy final, where Afonso once again ran the first leg of the 3:09.06 ninth-place finish.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leendert Koekemoer<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of South Africa walks away from the Championships as a bronze medalist, having run a 45.17 split in the heats of the men&rsquo;s 4x400m to help solidify South Africa&rsquo;s lane in the final. Koekemoer&rsquo;s teammates went on to clock a 2:57.83 for bronze in a dramatic final.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*pending the usual ratification procedures by World Athletics.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Full results of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 can be found <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/tokyo25/timetable"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here. </a>

China's Jiale Zhang and Kenya's Edmund Serem win bronze medals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

Teenage stars Zhang and Serem are youngest medalists of WCH Tokyo 25

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than 50 of the world&rsquo;s top U20 athletes are entered to compete on the biggest stage at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 at the Japan National Stadium from 13 - 21 September. 
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A group of rising distance stars will take the spotlight in Tokyo as they compete for global glory. 18-year-old Kenyan, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech, is among the top contenders for the podium in the men&rsquo;s 1500m having run the second-fastest time in the world this year &ndash; a world U20 record of 3:27.72 in June. He&rsquo;s joined in the U20 ranks by the short track 1500m world record holder, Cameron Myers, who will represent Australia in the midst of a breakout season. Kenya also has a U20 medal opportunity in the men&rsquo;s 3000m Steeplechase with 17-year-old Edmund Serem. The world U20 champion has the fourth-fastest time on the entry list behind reigning champion Soufiane El Bakkali, Diamond League Final champion Frederik Ruppert, and two-time Olympic finalist Ryuji Miura.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ethiopia&rsquo;s Birke Haylom, who holds world U20 records across five events from the 1500m to the 5000m, is entered in both the 1500m and 5000m. Haylom holds personal bests of 3:53.22 in the 1500 and 14:24.20 in the 5000m, putting her at No.10 and No.6 on the 2025 performance lists. Olympic finalist and world U20 record holder in the 10,000m and short track 3000m, Biniam Mehary, enters the 10,000m in Tokyo as the favourite. His biggest challengers for the throne are countrymen Selemon Barega and Berihu Aregawi, both of whom are Olympic medallists in the event.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A rising star for the US, Cooper Lutkenhaus, is the youngest entrant in any individual men&rsquo;s event at Tokyo. The 16-year-old ran a world U18 best of 1:42.27 to qualify for the Championships and could certainly be in medal winning form.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With a personal best of 77.24m, China&rsquo;s Jiale Zhang has the fifth-furthest mark on the Tokyo entry list behind a decorated list of throwers including the last three world champions, Camryn Rodgers, Brooke Andersen, and DeAnna Price. The 18-year-old improved upon the world U20 record earlier this year at the Chinese National Championships and could become the first U20 woman to medal in the event since its inception in 1999.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than a dozen promising young sprinters from across the world have been designated to their country&rsquo;s relay teams and a standout bunch will take on the rounds in the individual events. Among those looking to shake up the sprint finals is Australia&rsquo;s Gout Gout. The 17-year-old world U20 silver medalist from Queensland holds the outright Oceania record in the 200m at 20.02, set in Ostrava in June. Samuel Ogazi will look to improve on his seventh-place 400m finish from the Paris Olympic Games. Ogazi has a personal best of 44.41, a Nigerian record, and is currently ranked No.15 in the world.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A full list of entries, as well as a timetable and results, can be found <a style="text-decoration-line: none;" href="https://worldathletics.org/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">here</a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.

More than 50 U20 athletes to compete at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25

More than 50 U20 athletes to compete at WCH Tokyo 25

Poland&rsquo;s Hubert Trościanka put on a masterclass on his way to a world U20 decathlon record* to highlight performances at the European U20 Championships in Tampere, which included a staggering 30 national records and six championship records.
Across the first two days of competition, Trościanka pieced together a commanding performance in the decathlon as he became the first athlete to ever surpass 8500 points in the U20 decathlon. The 19-year-old combined events star took down the previous record of 8435, set in 2017 by Germany&rsquo;s Niklas Kaul, by 79 points.
Trościanka took the lead in the first of 10 events with a 10.74 personal best in the 100m. He added a 7.26m long jump and 15.48m throw in the shot put to lead through three events, but Luuk Pelkmans snatched the lead with a 2.06m high jump to Trościanka&rsquo;s 1.94m. He regained the lead from the Dutchman with a world U20 decathlon best 46.21 in the 400m, but the margin narrowed with his 14.23 in the 110m hurdles to Pelkman&rsquo;s 14.07.
Pelkmans swapped into the gold-medal position with a 46.48m throw in the discus to Trościanka&rsquo;s 43.36m, but a 4.80m clearance in the pole vault gave the Polish star the lead going into one of his strongest events &ndash; the javelin. He launched a championship decathlon best of 68.87m to establish nearly a 300-point lead going into the final event.
A gruelling 4:28.59 in the 1500m gave Trościanka a winning tally of 8514, making him the highest-scoring U20 decathlete of all time and a name to watch out for as he rises to the senior ranks in 2026.
In the women&rsquo;s triple jump, Italy&rsquo;s Erika Saraceni took down a 24-year-old championship record and bettered her own Italian U20 record with a 14.24m leap. Her first leap of 14.08m was good enough to match her lifetime best and she went on to improve to 14.15m and eventually 14.24m. In the bronze medal position, Latvia&rsquo;s Adriana Kruzmane also bettered a national U20 record with 13.62m.
France&rsquo;s Elijah Pasquier also found success in the jumps. The 19-year-old cleared 2.25m for gold in the high jump to take down a 35-year-old French U20 record of 2.24m, set by Didier Detch&eacute;nique in 1990.
Innes FitzGerald put on quite the show as she managed double gold for Great Britain in the 3000m and 5000m. On day one of competition in Tampere FitzGerald clocked 15:09.04 at the longer distance for her first gold and managed to keep fresh enough legs to topple Gabby Szabo&rsquo;s 32-year-old championship record in the 3000m with 8:46.39.
Joining FitzGerald as double gold medallists on the track were Norway&rsquo;s H&aring;kon Moe Berg in the 1500m and 3000m and 15-year-old Italian Kelly Ann Maevane Doualla in the 100m and 4x100m. Moe Berg clocked an 8:43.20 on Saturday before winning the 1500m gold in 3:47.36 on Sunday. Doualla sped to an 11.22 for the 100m crown on Friday and anchored Italy (Alice
&nbsp;
Pagliarini, Elisa Valensin, and Margherita Castellani) to 4x100m gold with a national U20 record 43.72 on Sunday. That pushed Poland to a national U20 record of 44.07 for bronze. In the heats, Latvia also clocked a national U20 record at 45.86.
Jarno van Daalen of the Netherlands pulled off a shot put/discus double. He landed a 21.07m throw to win the shot put before launching a 63.18m throw in the discus.
In the 400m hurdles, Michal Rada of Czechia established a world U20 lead and championship record with his 48.78. That mark puts him at No.2 on the European U20 all-time list and is the fastest in more than 40 years. Rada went on to anchor Czechia to a 4x400m national U20 record of 3:05.79 alongside Ondřej Loupal, Luk&aacute;&scaron; Mare&scaron;, and Tom&aacute;&scaron; Hor&aacute;k. Spain secured silver and their own U20 record in 3:06.83.
Pushed by Rada&rsquo;s winning ways, Iker Moreno of Spain clocked a national U20 record of 49.66 for silver and Quinten de Vos set a Dutch U20 record of 50.46 for bronze.
Alexandra Stefania Uta of Romania also established a championship record in the 400m hurdles with her 55.55 clocking for gold and a European U20 lead to beat France&rsquo;s M&eacute;ta Tumba with a lean. Tumba&rsquo;s 55.56 was good for a French U20 record and silver over Estonia&rsquo;s Viola Hambidge, who lowered her national U20 record to 56.71.
Also in the hurdles, Matteo Togni clocked a European U20 lead and Italian U20 record of 13.27 for gold in the 110m hurdles. Bulgaria&rsquo;s Hristiyan was second with a 13.31 clocking for a national U20 record and Norway&rsquo;s Elias Grannes Pedersen clocked a 13.42 for a Norwegian U20 record and fifth place.
The 10,000m race walk saw seven national U20 records fall across both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s races. Taking gold on the women&rsquo;s side, Sofia Santacreu became the first U20 Spaniard to drop below 44:00.00 in the women&rsquo;s 10,000m race walk with her 43.47.89, bettering a decade-old national record. That feat helped to pace four more national records: Serena di Fabio (ITA), 43:56.25 for silver, Mina Stanković (SRB), 44:35.66 (all-ages record), Chloe le Roch (FRA), 45:08.59, and Theresia Emma Mohr (AUT), 45:13.07 (all-ages record).
Spain took top honours in the men&rsquo;s race as Joan Querol bettered an 11-year-old national U20 record in 39:10.04 to snag the championship record and Italy&rsquo;s Giuseppe Disabato clocked a 39:20.87 for silver to better his own record.
Croatia&rsquo;s Jana Ko&scaron;cak equalled her own national record of 6293 to win the heptathlon. Propelling her in the rankings was a championship heptathlon record of 1.92m in the high jump. That mark ties her own national U20 record and matches her own world U20 lead. In close competition with Ko&scaron;cak throughout seven events, Sarolta Kriszt managed a Hungarian U20 record of 6251.
Several other athletes set national age-group records. Ireland&rsquo;s Conor Kelly set a national U20 record to win the men&rsquo;s 400m in 45.83, Turkey&rsquo;s Kiyasettin Kara clocked a 3000m steeplechase national record of 8:43.55 for gold, Victoria Kwarteng set a French U20 record of 52.26 in the 400m, and Laura Friklova of Slovakia clocked a record-breaking 13.10 in the 100m hurdles heats.
In less than a year, many of these athletes will use their experience from the continental stage as they go on to compete at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
A full list of results from the European U20 Championships Tampere 2025 can be found here.
*subject to the usual ratification procedures

Poland’s Hubert Trościanka put on a masterclass on his way to a world U20 decathlon record* to highlight performances at the European U20 Championships in Tampere

Trościanka’s world U20 decathlon record headlines competition in Tampere

The track in Tampere, Finland, is packed with talent for the European Athletics U20 Championships from 7-10 August. World U18 and U20 record-holders in the women&rsquo;s 100m, 5000m and short track 400m and the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles go face to face with their rivals, while world U20 champions take the next step towards defending their titles at the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 in the women&rsquo;s heptathlon, 400m hurdles and men&rsquo;s shot put.
<h2>Sprinters push boundaries with eyes on first titles</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/italy/kelly-ann-maevane-doualla-edimo-15022410" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kelly Doualla</a> is just 15 years old, but the Italian sprinter already holds the European U18 best over 100m, at 11.21 set in July. <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/france/lenny-chanteur-15057488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lenny Chanteur</a>'s 10.22 personal best is the fastest by a European U20 man this year. The French athlete won both his heat and semifinal at the French U20 Championships in July before finishing second in the final, where he ran 10.42. In Finland, both will look to claim their first European U20 outdoor crowns.
Germany's <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/germany/johanna-martin-14996565" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Johanna Martin</a> holds the European U20 short track 400m record and ran a then-personal best of 52.49 at the World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, last August. Martin, 19, doesn&rsquo;t yet have a European outdoor title to her name, but she lowered her personal best to 51.55 at the European Team Championships in June.
World and two-time French U20 champion <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/france/m%C3%A9ta-tumba-14947230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">M&eacute;ta Tumba</a> headlines the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles field. Her 55.59 from Lima 2024, where she won all three of her hurdles rounds, still stands as the national U20 record in the event.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles pool, meanwhile, features the owner of the European U18 best in the event. At Lima 2024, Czech U20 record-holder (49.08) <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/czechia/michal-rada-15035794" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michal Rada</a>&rsquo;s first-round time &ndash; 49.36 &ndash; was then the world U20 lead, and the national U20 record, which he went on to lower to 49.30 in the final, where he won silver behind the United States&rsquo; Vance Nilsson.&nbsp;
<h2>Moe Berg, FitzGerald and Van Daalen on double medal watch</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/norway/h%C3%A5kon-moe-berg-15034954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">H&aring;kon Moe Berg</a> follows in the footsteps of his fellow Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen as he takes on the 1500m/3000m double in Finland. Moe Berg, the national champion in the 1500m, has not run a 3000m race yet in 2025 but holds a personal best of 7:55.82 from August 2024.
Also looking to double up on medals is <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/innes-fitzgerald-15033317" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Innes FitzGerald</a>, who holds the European U20 5000m record. FitzGerald is entered in both the 3000m and 5000m in Tampere, where she will look to claim a first European U20 crown on the track after two European cross country titles. She ran personal best times at two Diamond League events in 2025 &ndash; 14:39.56 in the 5000m in London and 8:32.90 in the 3000m in Stockholm.
Another double could come in the field events, from world U20 shot put champion <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/netherlands/jarno-van-daalen-14987276" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jarno Van Daalen</a>. The Dutch 19-year-old threw a then-personal best 20.76m (6kg) to win the U20 world title in Lima, then threw over 21 metres with a 6kg shot earlier this year. His double could come in the discus, where he holds a personal best of 66.31m with a 1.750kg discus. Both marks rank first among European U20 athletes in 2025.
<h2>Former U18 winners look to take next steps</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/croatia/vita-barbic-14955305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vita Barbić</a>, like Doualla, knows what it&rsquo;s like to shine early. Now 17 years old, Barbić won the European U18 javelin title in 2024 and finished third in the discus before landing just off the podium in fourth place at the World U20 Championships the same year. A two-time national U20 champion, Barbić could add a European title to her resume this year.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/france/remi-mourie-15122947" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remi Mourie</a> is the sole long jumper in the field to have soared beyond eight metres. The 17-year-old&rsquo;s 8.05m jump from June is the French U18 record. He sits third worldwide and first in Europe among U20 athletes this year, and he has already added 33cm to his European U18 Championship-winning distance from last summer.
Croatia's <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/cro/jana-ko%C5%A1%C4%8Dak-14881318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jana Ko&scaron;čak</a> checks in as the world U20 heptathlon champion after she posted 5807 points in Lima to win. Her personal best of 6293 points from 2023 still stands as the world U18 best and the Croatian national record. She finished 14th at last year&rsquo;s European Championships and rose to a season&rsquo;s best of 6190 points in July.

The track in Tampere, Finland, is packed with talent for the European Athletics U20 Championships from 7-10 August

World champions, record-holders and double medal chances at European U20 Championships

Highlighted by a world U18 best and an area U20 record, 13 US U20 athletes made it to their nation&rsquo;s biggest stage as they competed at the USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Sixteen-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus went into the championships with a personal best of 1:45.45 and one goal &ndash; to make it to the 800m final. In the first round, he clocked 1:47.23 for second in his heat behind US short track record-holder Josh Hoey to get automatic qualification into the semifinal.
Lutkenhaus went into the second round with a last-race mentality, knowing that it could very well take the best day of his young career to make it into the final among a deep domestic field. On the heels of Bryce Hoppel &ndash; the US record-holder at the distance &ndash; the Northwest High School (Texas) rising athlete clocked 1:45.57 to become the youngest runner to ever make the US senior 800m final.
Taking the inside lane, Lutkenhaus lined up against a decorated field in Sunday&rsquo;s final with a plan to seize the opportunity and rely on his strong kick.&nbsp;
&ldquo;200 (metres) to go is kind of my sweet spot,&rdquo; said Lutkenhaus of his race strategy. &ldquo;Everyone was in the race with 100 to 200 metres to go and I just gave everything I had left.&rdquo;
Lutkenhaus shot off the final turn and down lane three as he passed Brandon Miller, Hoey and Hoppel to take silver behind the 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier, who won in 1:42.16. A 1:42.27 earned Lutkenhaus a world U18 best and moved him to No.2 on the world U20 all-time list. 
&ldquo;I look up to (Bryce Hoppel and Donavan Brazier) so to actually race those guys has just been fun,&rdquo; said Lutkenhaus. &ldquo;I always think it&rsquo;s cool to see younger guys make a final because I think it makes it more exciting to see a youngster going up against those with a lot more experience.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 100m, the top three US U20 stars all had a fighting chance at securing a lane in the final. Christian Miller entered with the top time of the trio in 2025 at 10.02, Tate Taylor had a 10.10 to his name, and Maurice Gleaton a 10.11.&nbsp;
All three went through the heats without a hiccup, and Gleaton was the lone qualifier out of the semifinals, clocking 10.05 to secure a lane in Friday&rsquo;s final by time. He lined up for the final in lane nine alongside four Olympians, including two-time Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek.&nbsp;
The 18-year-old out of Langston Hughes High School (Georgia) clocked 9.92 for sixth place, taking down Miller&rsquo;s North American U20 record by a hundredth of a second.
&ldquo;Top three was (my idea of success) going into the race,&rdquo; Gleaton said following the competition. &ldquo;I tried to stay relaxed during the race but I kind of got carried away when I saw everybody in front of me, but I got sixth place at 18, so I feel pretty good about it.&rdquo;
In just over a year, Hayward Field will play host to the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 as up-and-coming athletes from across the world look to find their own Hayward magic.
A full list of results from the USATF Outdoor Championships can be found <a href="https://results.usatf.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
&nbsp;

13 US U20 athletes made it to their nation’s biggest stage as they competed at the USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field

U20 records fall at US Championships 

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<h1 style="text-align: center; color: #96f460;">WORLD ATHLETICS U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS OREGON 26</h1>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">HAYWARD FIELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON</h2>
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The future of track &amp; field takes center stage as the world&rsquo;s top rising stars battle for gold at the 21st edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships on 5&ndash;9 August 2026.
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Oregon previously hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2022 and the World U20 Championships in 2014.
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