Three things to watch on day three in Oregon

Seven finals will be held on day three of the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26.

Here are just three of the many contests to watch out for on Friday (7).

A duel of 400m standouts

After an action-packed day of events, the evening spotlight will be on a myriad of young 400m stars. The men’s 400m will feature a high-octane rematch of the US U20 Championships held at Hayward Field in June. Jayden Deleon upset the more decorated Quincy Wilson by running the second-fastest 400m ever for a high school athlete at 44.52. On Friday they return to Eugene with the world U20 title on the line. Vying for gold with them will be Leendert Koekemoer who formed part of South Africa’s world bronze medal-winning 4x400m squad in Tokyo last year.

In the women’s 400m, Ataja Stephane-Vazquez will be looking to bring the U20 title back to the United States for the first time since Kendall Baisden claimed the title in 2014, also at Hayward Field. She will be competing against her compatriot Clara Adams, who finished second to Stephane-Vazquez at the US U20 Championships in Eugene in June. Also in the mix is Poland’s Anastazja Kuś, who placed third at the European U20 Championships last year, and Guyana's Tianna Springer.

WU20 Oregon 26 sprint events preview

Stars seeking strong start to men’s decathlon

Day three will feature the first half of the decathlon. European U18 silver medallist Liam Belo da Silva (7981) leads the entries as he attempts to claim Sweden’s first ever world U20 decathlon title. Challenging him will be France’s Mael-Bephassou Lannurien (7785), South Africa’s Daniel von der Heyden (7614) and Greece’s Nikolaos Kosmopoulos (7608). US duo Brody Foster and Darius Jones will return to Hayward Field after placing first and second at the US U20 Championships with scores of 7604 and 7547, respectively.

WU20 Oregon 26 combined events preview

All eyes on men’s throws

Two throwing finals will take place, the men’s hammer and men’s javelin. After setting a world U20 lead of 80.39m in the hammer on day one, China’s Chen Jiawei will seek to add a world U20 title to his growing trophy case on day three. Vying for gold behind him are two throwers who have hit 77 metres this year. Poland’s Jan Delewski entered the championships at the top of the field with a PB of 77.57m that he set in June. Alexandros Ghamrawi will attempt to keep the world U20 title in Cyprus after his compatriot Iosif Kesidis’ win in Lima in 2024. In the men’s javelin, Jan-Hendrik Heymans will look to continue the momentum from the qualifying round after leading by more than six metres with a 76.02m auto-qualifying heave. Vying for medals behind him are India’s Ashish Yadav, who threw a PB of 74.49m in March, and Poland’s Aleksander Wojna, who along with Yadav was one of three athletes in the 69-metre range during the qualifying round.

WU20 Oregon 26 throws events preview

Owen Bogert for the World Athletics Media Academy