Simon Rosselli in the discus at the World U20 Championships in Oregon (© Getty Images)
- Rosselli throws US U20 record of 66.39m on final attempt to snatch discus gold
- Dia clears 5.80m for pole vault gold as Louison-Roe wins high jump title
- Abdel Hamid wins Egypt’s first ever world U20 gold medal with javelin victory
Late-round drama provided a fitting finish to the field events at the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26, with Simon Rosselli and Viktoria Angelova both producing winning performances with their final attempts on Sunday (9).
Aseel Osama Abdel Hamid also saved her best throw of the competition until the sixth round to complete a historic victory for Egypt, while the two pre-event favourites in the vertical jumps delivered on expectations. Zackaria Dia produced one of the highest-quality performances of the final day to win the men’s pole vault with 5.80m, and Izobelle Louison-Roe upgraded her Lima silver to high jump gold.
Rosselli delivers discus gold with final throw
Simon Rosselli saved his best for last in the men’s discus, producing a US U20 record of 66.39m with his sixth and final throw to snatch the gold medal.
Rosselli had made a solid start to the competition but had fallen out of the medal positions as the contest progressed. With one attempt remaining, the US thrower responded under pressure and sent the discus beyond all of his rivals to take the title.
Estonia’s Sten-Erik Iir had led before Rosselli’s final-round effort after improving his PB to 65.42m, but ultimately had to settle for silver. Jamaica’s Joseph Richard Salmon – the pre-event favourite – took bronze with his second-round throw of 64.37m.
Dia secures gold with 5.80m
World U20 leader Zackaria Dia lived up to expectations in a high-quality men’s pole vault final, clearing 5.80m to secure gold for France.
Dia entered the championships with a world U20-leading PB of 5.82m and came within two centimetres of that mark in Eugene to take the title.
Estonia’s Henri Apri pushed him hard, improving his national U20 record to 5.75m to claim silver. USA’s Jaxon Jerabek also produced his best when it mattered, setting a PB of 5.60m to earn bronze.
Abdel Hamid makes history for Egypt
Aseel Osama Abdel Hamid made history in the javelin, becoming the first Egyptian woman ever to win a medal at the World U20 Championships – and making that medal gold.
The African U20 record-holder was already in front going into the final round, but finished the competition in style by improving to 59.82m with her last throw to become Egypt's first ever world U20 champion.
Croatia’s Vita Barbic took silver with 56.60m, while Yu-Chin Tai of Chinese Taipei earned bronze with 54.34m.
Louison-Roe upgrades Lima silver to gold
After claiming silver in Lima two years ago, Australia’s Izobelle Louison-Roe returned to the World U20 Championships as the favourite and this time went one better.
The world U20 leader cleared 1.92m to secure the high jump title, adding gold to the silver she won in 2024.
Hungary’s Lilianna Bátori took silver with 1.90m, while Spain’s Aitana Alonso also cleared 1.90m to take bronze on countback, equalling the Spanish U20 record in the process.
Angelova saves best for last
Viktoria Angelova provided another dramatic final-round victory in the women’s triple jump.
The Bulgarian – who had recently won the European U20 title – arrived in Oregon as the world U20 leader with a PB of 13.98m but found herself needing to respond on her sixth and final attempt. She did exactly that, jumping 13.91m – into a -1.9m/s wind – to move into first place and secure the world U20 title.
Romania’s Daria Vrînceanu took silver with a season’s best of 13.70m, while Spain’s Ana Estrella De Leon also produced a season’s best, jumping 13.58m for bronze.
Hegemann holds off Kärhä for hammer gold
Germany claimed two medals in the women’s hammer final as Clara Hegemann and Nova Kienast finished first and third.
Hegemann moved into the lead with 68.99m in the fourth round and that mark proved enough for gold, holding off world U20 leader Pinja Kärhä of Finland.
Kärhä’s best of 68.51m came in the second round and secured silver, while Hegemann’s German teammate Kienast produced a season’s best of 67.89m to take bronze, just 39 centimetres ahead of USA’s Burklie Burton.
Sofiah Gravley for the World Athletics Media Academy
