Gary Card in 100m action in Oregon (© Getty Images)
Five more champions will be crowned on day two of the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26.
Here are just three of the many things to follow at Hayward Field on Thursday (6).
Highly anticipated 100m battles
On a day that will see five titles decided, two of the most anticipated races will be saved for last. The 100m battles look set to offer showdowns between Jamaica and the US. Both teams have formidable athletes in their ranks, all looking for gold.
Jamaica has world U20 leaders Shanoya Douglas and Gary Card. Douglas earned bronze in the 200m and gold in 4x100m in Lima back in 2024, while Card is the only athlete with a time below 10 seconds this year. His national U20 record of 9.93 bumped him up to third on the world U20 all-time list.
The US team has a few players up its sleeve that could give them the edge over Jamaica. The women’s team features the Maxwell twins, Mia and Mariah, while Tate Taylor is on their men’s squad. Racing on home soil, all three athletes are on the hunt for gold.
WU20 Oregon 26 sprint events preview
Heptathlon heroes
Thursday features the final three events in the heptathlon – the long jump, javelin and 800m.
Enni Virjonen will be looking to get another world U20 gold for Finland following her compatriot Saga Vanninen’s victories in 2021 and 2022. She is the world U20 leader after scoring a PB of 6189 in Götzis in May.
Zola Ndouma-Mona finished the first day just seven points behind leader Virjonen after a series that included a championship heptathlon best in the shot put. Thea Brown, who finished runner-up to Virjonen at the 2024 European U18 Championships, will also be looking to build on a strong first day during which she set a championship heptathlon best in the 100m hurdles.
WU20 Oregon 26 combined events preview
Throws stars in the spotlight
Two throwing finals will take place – the women’s discus and shot put.
Nigeria’s Jessica Oji stars in the shot put after securing a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She set an African record of 18.50m indoors in March, making her the only athlete in the field to have surpassed 18 metres. She’ll face athletes including Ecuador’s Belsy Jennifer Quiñonez who has a PB of 17.75m.
In the discus, look out for future University of Oregon student Jaslene Massey who hopes to take home the gold in this event again after throwing 60.27m to win the US U20 title at Hayward Field in June. China’s Su Yixin will also be on the medal hunt – she threw a PB of 59.44m in May.
WU20 Oregon 26 throws events preview
Ash Wehrly for World Athletics Media Academy
