Championship records top African U20 Championships in Abeokuta

Numerous championship records highlighted five days of action at the 16th edition of the CAA African U20 Championships in Abeokuta, Nigeria, which concluded on Sunday (20). 

Anatasha Cheptoo cut 20 seconds off the existing championship record to lead a Kenyan 3000m steeplechase sweep with her 9:27.84 – the top time by any Kenyan U20 woman this year. Her teammates Mercy Chepngeno and Sharon Chepkemoi also dipped under the previous record in 9:32.98 and 9:34.38. 

Following suit, Uganda’s Bentalin Yeko slashed nearly eight seconds off the 31-year-old 3000m championship record. The 17-year-old, who was seventh at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima last year, clocked the fastest time by any Ugandan U20 woman this year at 8:45.49 for her first medal on the international stage. 

Charity Cherop, the bronze medallist at last year’s World U20 Championships, broke the championship record in the 5000m as she clocked 15:10.88 to lead a Ugandan 1-2 alongside Risper Cherop, who took silver in 15:29.63.

The championship record in the women’s pole vault hardly stood a chance against the African U20 leader, Ansume De Beer. The South African made a 4.00m clearance to topple the 3.65m record set in 1999 and take home continental gold. Egyptian U23 champion Rasha Tamer Tawfik also surpassed the previous championship record for silver with her 3.80m mark.  

South Africa’s Alicia Khunou tacked five metres on to the existing championship record in the discus as she landed a 54.91m throw, more than five meters farther than the rest of the field. The 19-year-old was just shy of bettering her own African U20 record of 55.06m set in April of this year. 

Nigeria’s Olympic finalist Prestina Ochonogor broke a 10-year-old championship record to win long jump gold. The African U20 record-holder soared 6.71m to take the title and improve the championship record of 6.33m set a decade ago by her fellow Nigerian Ese Brume.

South Africa sweeps the hurdles

Perhaps one of the most dominant showings of the championships came from South African hurdles sensation Tumi Ramokgopa. Fresh off a senior title in the high hurdles at the South African Championships, the 17-year-old was in prime condition for top performances in Abeokuta. Ramokgopa clocked 13.52 to better the championship record in the 100m hurdles by 0.07. She then went on to clock 57.97 in the 400m hurdles to sweep the women’s hurdles crowns. 

South Africa’s men completed the sweep with gold in the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Jack Naeem clocked 13.73 to take gold in the high hurdles while his teammate and African U20 leader Njabulo Mbatha won top honours in the 400m hurdles with a 51.46 showing. 

Nigerian sweeps highlight the sprints

A pair of home-team sweeps got the Nigerian crowd on their feet for the sprints. Favour Onyinye Onyah led the first of the sweeps with her 52.47 win in the 400m. Her teammates Anita Enaruna and Jimoh Toyiba completed the sweep with 52.97 and 53.00, respectively. 

Mirroring the 400m results, Nigeria went 1-2-3 in the 200m. Oghene Success Oyibu sped to a 23.56 win, with Chioma Cynthia Nweke and Lucy Chiamaka Nwankwo taking silver and bronze in 23.95 and 24.24. Just one day prior, Nweke led a Nigerian 1-2 finish in the women’s 100m with her 11.65 into a -1.9m/s headwind. 

Botswana’s Justice Oratile was a double threat in the long sprints, coming away with titles in the men’s 200m and 400m. The Motswana held off a trio of Nigerians in a competitive single lap with a victorious 45.58 before blazing to a 21.02 gold around the curve. 

South Africa’s Mia Davel and Martha Nkosi showed true team spirit with their double-gold performances in the women’s high jump. Following 1.70m clearances, the pair chose to share the glory for South Africa atop the podium. 

On the distance side, Samuel Cherop moved up in the U20 rankings with his 28:20.07 10,000m win. That time takes him to No. 4 on the world U20 list this year and is the fourth-fastest by any Ugandan runner of all ages in 2025. 

A pair of U20 national leads were established in the 1500m finals. Uganda’s Nancy Chepkwurui took the women’s title in 4:10.31 – the top time of any U20 woman from Uganda in 2025 – and Jaouad Khchina clocked 3:38.17 for the men’s win and a Moroccan U20 lead. 

Hensu Lamberts highlighted the throws with a dominant showing in the men’s 6kg shot put. The South African took over the African U20 lead with a 20.57m heave to win gold by nearly three metres. 

Next up on the area U20 championships calendar is the European Athletics U20 Championships, to take place from 7-10 August in Tampere, Finland.