Tate Taylor on his way to the world U20 100m title in Oregon (© Getty Images)
- Tate Taylor breaks 10 seconds to get 100m gold
- Virjonen sets world U20 lead to win heptathlon
- France fills two spots on women's long jump podium
USA’s Tate Taylor moved into joint fifth place among the fastest U20 sprinters in history, running 9.94 (0.1m/s) to win 100m gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 on home soil on Thursday (6).
Two U20 sprinters – Taylor and Jamaica’s Gary Card – have now broken 10 seconds this year and Taylor’s PB saw him pip Card to the title. Card ran 10.05 to get silver, an upgrade from his sixth-place finish in 2024.
Card and Taylor will face off once again in Oregon in the 200m and all eyes will stay on them as a great new track and field rivalry emerges.
“There were some tweaks I was looking to fix after the semifinals, and I think I executed those tweaks pretty well,” said Taylor, who became the first US athlete to win the men’s world U20 100m title since Noah Lyles in 2016. “Once I got out of the top end, I knew it was going to be a good race, for sure.”
Marko Ferreira, the South African U20 champion, secured bronze in 10.16. His podium finish marks the fourth consecutive World U20 Championships in which a South African sprinter has taken home a men’s 100m medal.
Taylor’s US teammate Mia Maxwell won the head-to-head battle against world leader Shanoya Douglas of Jamaica, clinching her 100m crown in 11.14 (-0.1m/s). Maxwell's victory broke an eight-year streak of Jamaican gold medallists in the event and marked the first time a US woman took home gold since Candace Hill in 2016 – also as part of a US double, alongside Lyles.
Douglas added to her collection of U20 hardware, upgrading from a bronze medal in the 200m at the 2024 championships in Lima to a silver in the 100m in Oregon.
Italy's Kelly Doualla secured bronze at the age of 16. The European U18 and U20 champion clocked 11.27 to secure her country's first world U20 medal in the women’s 100m and she will still be eligible to compete in the next edition in 2028. Xenia Buri finished fourth (11.33) and Maxwell's twin sister Mariah was fifth (11.35).
Virjonen returns gold to Finland
Finland's Enni Virjonen reaffirmed her U20 heptathlon world dominance by improving her own world U20 lead set in May. Collecting 6214 points over the two days of competition, she posted the best world U20 title-winning score since Great Britain & NI’s Niamh Emerson’s 6253 in 2018. As a result, Virjonen regained the title for Finland, following in the footsteps of her compatriot Saga Vanninen who won in 2021 and 2022.
Virjonen reached that score after finishing in the top three in the 100m hurdles (13.36), shot put (14.35m), 200m (23.99), long jump (6.29m) and javelin (43.65m).
Estonia's Mia Mireia Uusorg got silver with 5961 points during what will be the first of many events at Hayward Field for the future University of Oregon student-athlete.
The battle for third place was narrow and hard-fought. Switzerland's Anna Pfister edged Great Britain's Thea Brown by just 24 points – 5850 to 5826. Both athletes recorded personal bests.
France dominates long jump final
The women's long jump final ended with a French-Greek sandwich. Djelika Diarra added three centimetres to the world U20 lead, jumping a PB of 6.52m to win gold for France. Evelyn Mitropoulou got silver with a jump of 6.44m, becoming the first woman in Greece's rich track and field history to win a medal in this event on the world U20 stage. Soudatou Niang secured the second medal of the night for France, matching her personal best of 6.34m to get bronze.
Su Yixin surpassed Jaslene Massey in a showdown between the top two U20 discus throwers in the world, becoming the second Chinese athlete in a row to win gold in the women's discus, following in Han Bingyang's footsteps. Su threw a world U20 lead and PB of 61.06m in the final round and four of her five valid throws would have been enough to win.
USA’s Jaslene Massey, another future University of Oregon student, secured discus silver with a 58.41m throw and remained on the field to line up for the shot put final less than 20 minutes later.
Marina Hadjicosta became the first woman from Cyprus to claim a world U20 discus medal, and the fifth athlete from her country to win a world U20 medal overall. Her mark of 54.88m was enough to hold off China's Ma Chenyi, whose best throw measured 54.58m.
Oji gets shot put gold
After securing shot put silver competing against senior athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Nigeria's Jessica Oji lived up to her status as the world U20 leader to get gold in Oregon, throwing 18.08m. Oji became the first woman from Nigeria to win a world U20 throws medal.
The second- and third-place finishers left with medals and lifetime bests. Belsy Jenniffer Quiñonez won Ecuador’s first world U20 women’s field event medal, setting a national U20 record of 17.90m. Germany's Emily Scherf got bronze with a 17.23m throw.
The 400m favourites in full swing
US U20 champion Ataja Stephane-Vazquez was the sole athlete to run under 52 seconds in the women’s 400m semifinals, clocking 51.76. Poland’s Anastazja Kuś finished first in heat one in 52.43, followed closely by Clara Adams (52.81). Tianna Springer of Guyana finished third overall in the round, running 52.48 to also qualify for the final.
The favourites dominated the men's 400 semifinals. Olympic 4x400m gold medallist Quincy Wilson and South Africa's world 4x400m medallist Leendert Koekemoer both cruised to first-place finishes in their heats, respectively clocking 45.02 and 45.18. Jayden Deleon, who beat Wilson to the US U20 title, won his semifinal in 45.49, followed by Guyana's Malachi Austin.
Osama Er Redouani of Morocco clocked a PB of 3:42.23 on his way to the best time of the 1500m heats. James Alexander and Kieran Shepherd also ran sub-3:43. Heats one and three evolved into dramatic battles for the final qualifying spots, as Alessandro Casoni and Pol Molins were separated by just one hundredth of a second, while Karim Fartaz separated himself from Ethan Newell by three tenths of a second to also qualify.
Kenya reaffirmed its 1500m dominance in the women's heats. Caren Chepchirchir and Josephine Sembeyo Mancha qualified first and second, respectively, with heat-winning times of 4:12.09 and 4:12.21. Ethiopia's Haregeweyni Kalayu, who held the best time heading into the competition, followed with a time of 4:12.54 to join them in the final.
France’s world U20 leader Zackaria Dia and Estonia’s Henri Apri were among the athletes to soar into the pole vault final after clearing 5.25m.
Colin Ernst for the World Athletics Media Academy
