WU20 Oregon 26 preview: sprints

Some of the fastest U20 sprinters of all time will be in action when the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 takes place at Hayward Field from 5-9 August.

Here we take a look at the women’s and men’s 100m, 200m and 400m.

Women’s 100m

All eyes will be on Jamaica’s world U20 leader Shanoya Douglas, the world U20 200m bronze medallist and 4x100m champion in Lima two years ago. The 18-year-old lines up in Oregon as the sole athlete to have broken 11 seconds, her PB of 10.98 in Kingston in March moving her into the world all-time top 10. Unbeaten this year, and after winning 100m and 200m doubles at the Jamaican U20 Championships, Boys and Girls Championships and CARIFTA Games, Douglas will have her eyes set on multiple golds in Oregon.

Challenging her will be the Maxwell twins, Mia and Mariah, who claimed a 1-2 in the 100m and 200m at the US U20 Championships. Mia starts with a PB of 11.04 and Mariah with 11.11 and they will both be on the hunt for medals on home soil.

Guyana’s Athaleyha Hinckson sits between the twins on the entry list with a best of 11.10. This small-nation breakout star set a South American U20 60m record in February and will be ready to keep pushing in Oregon. Switzerland’s Xenia Buri ran 11.13 in June, while Italy’s 16-year-old Kelly Doualla was just 0.01 off that mark with the area U18 best she set to win her European U18 title in July.

Men’s 100m

Gary Card leads the entries as the sole athlete with a time below 10 seconds. His 9.93 at the Jamaican Championships in June was a national U20 record that moved him to joint third on the world U20 all-time list. He looks in form to improve on his sixth place in this event at the last edition of the World U20 Championships.

USA’s Tate Taylor and South Africa’s Marko Ferreira have both set a personal best of 10.04 this season. Taylor looks to be a true double threat after taking home gold in both the 100m and 200m at the US U20 Championships at Hayward Field in early June. It will be a familiar ground for Taylor heading into this event.   

Ferreira is the third-fastest South African U20 in history behind Bayanda Walaza and Bradley Nkoana, both world U20 100m medallists two years ago in Lima. Only Walaza has broken 10 seconds and Ferreira states that is his target for Oregon. 

Like Card, Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan also returns to the World U20 Championships stage, two years on from claiming 200m bronze. He ran a PB of 10.07 in Tokyo in May.

Women’s 200m

Jamaica is on top again in both short sprints. Shanoya Douglas holds the Jamaican U20 record in the 200m after running 22.11 at the CARIFTA Games, advancing to joint-third won the world U20 all-time list. Lining up as a medallist from Lima in 2024, Douglas is anticipated to return even better.

She will be tested by the Maxwell twins once again. The dynamic duo from Texas have spent the season trading the top two national spots. Between the sisters, it is anybody’s game. While Mia won both events at the US U20 Championships, Mariah was close behind and they have respectively run 22.49 and 22.44 this season.

Nigeria’s Oluebube Ezechukwu and Oghene Success Oyibu have also run under 23 seconds. Ezechukwu is a rising name in Nigerian sprinting and she heads to Oregon just a few days after competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. 

Men’s 200m

Tate Taylor is currently the talk of track in the 200m. From taking home golds for both the 100m and 200m at the US U20 Championships to beating Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo at the Prefontaine Classic, the 18-year-old has broken multiple national high school records and has climbed up the world all-time list to become the third U20 performer in history, ahead of Usain Bolt, with 19.75 at the Pre Classic at Hayward Field.

Blake Hamilton ran a wind-aided 19.86 in Texas and backed it up with a legal 20.02 to finish second to Taylor at the national championships held on the same Eugene track as the World U20 Championships.

Jamaica’s Gary Card starts with a 20.28 PB, second on the Jamaican U20 all-time list behind only Usain Bolt. Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan is also entered for this event after getting world U20 bronze last time.

Women’s 400m

United States’ Ataja Stephanie-Vazquez only started to get serious about track in 2024. She dropped four seconds in one summer and took home gold at the US U20 Championships after finishing sixth there the year before. Her 51.08 PB heads the entry list.

Ethiopian record-holder Ajayeba Aliye is the real international heavyweight in the field. The 19-year-old ran 51.37 to win the African title in Accra in May and claimed an Ethiopian 200m and 400m title double in March.

Following is Clara Adams, the US U20 silver medallist behind Stephanie-Vazquez at Hayward Field. Adams ran a PB of 51.61 to claim that medal. 

Other contenders include Poland’s Anastazja Kuś who formed part of Poland’s 2025 world indoor silver medal-winning 4x400m team and who set a PB of 51.64 in June. Guyana’s CARIFTA Games champion Tianna Springer will also want to make an impact.

Men’s 400m

This will be a highly anticipated rematch following the US U20 Championships. Jayden Deleon upset the more decorated Quincy Wilson at Hayward Field, running the second-fastest 400m ever by a US high schooler – 44.52.

Wilson, the established face of US U20 quarter-miling and owner of a 44.10 PB, will want to rebound on the Hayward track.

United Arab Emirates’ Suleiman Abdulrahman is just 0.01 behind Wilson this season – 44.84 to 44.85. Abdulrahman became the first man in Asian U20 Championships history to break 45 seconds, upsetting the Qatari favourites for gold in Hong Kong. 

Malachi Austin completed a 400m double for Guyana at the CARIFTA Games and lines up as the South American U20 record-holder after running 44.87 in May.

Leendert Koekemoer brings global championship experience with him to Oregon as he formed part of South Africa’s world bronze medal-winning 4x400m squad in Tokyo last year. He has also dipped under 45 seconds this year.

Sofiah Gravley for the World Athletics Media Academy