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NAIROBI, Kenya, August 22 &ndash; Kenya finished first in the world as the 2021 World Athletics Championships concluded on Sunday at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani. Kenya won 16 medals, including 8 gold, 1 silver, and 7 bronze, the most for the Athletics powerhouse country since the Under-20 World Championships began in 1986.
Kenya dominated the final day, winning three gold medals in the men's 800m, women's 1500m, and men's 3000m steeplechase, as well as the rare men's 4 X 400m men's relay.
Kenya improved on its 2018 performance, when it topped the world, with a total of 11 medals, 6 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze.
Finland finished second in the overall medal standing at the 2021 Championship with 5 medals, 4 gold and 1 bronze, Nigeria was third with 7 medals, 4 gold and 3 bronze, Ethiopia was fourth with 12 medals, 3 gold, 7 silver, and 2 bronze, and Jamaica rounded out the top five with 11 medals, 3 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze.
The Kenyan quartet of Joshua Wanyonyi, Elkanah Kiprotich, Kennedy Kimeu, and Peter Kithome were determined to end the Championship with a medal, but despite taking the lead in the first lap, the Kenyan quartet of Joshua Wanyonyi, Elkanah Kiprotich, Kennedy Kimeu, and Peter Kithome couldn't maintain the momentum as Botswana won gold and Jamaica took silver.
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At the World Athletics Under-20 Championships, Emmanuel Wanyonyi set a new Championship Record of 1:43.76 to win the men's 800m in 1:43.76.
Wanyonyi finished with an exciting final kick, beating out Algeria's Mohamed Ali Gouaned, who settled for silver, and compatriot Noah Kibet, who finished third.
Earlier in the day, Amos Serem dazzled with a brilliant finishing kick, blazing the home stretch to win the steeplechase title in 8mins, 30.72secs. Serem was already certain of the gold after overcoming the last water obstacle and began waving at the crowd, urging them to make a louder noise.
He capped it off with the famous 'Kemboi dance,' re-enacting former Olympic and World Champion Ezekiel Kemboi's famous celebratory jig.
Simon Koech took bronze in 8:33.15 seconds, with Ethiopia's Tadese Tekele coming in between for silver.
Purity Chepkirui, meanwhile, won Kenya's seventh gold medal at the Championships, winning the women's 1500m in 2:50.71 after holding off a late surge from Ethiopian Diribe Welteji.
Compatriot Winnie Jemutai finished third for bronze in a time of 2:52.66, increasing Kenya's medal haul at the event to 13, surpassing the previous record of 11 set three years ago in Finland, with more medal events scheduled.
The championships will now be held in Cali, Colombia, next year.
Mercy Namachanja for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

Final Day of the World Athletics Under 20 Championships 2021 Nairobi

After five days of intense and exciting competition at the 18th edition of the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, the event came to a climax with Jamaica and South Africa setting world U20 records in the women's and men&rsquo;s 4x100m, while Botswana and Nigeria ran world leads to win 4x400m gold on Sunday (22). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
True to their status as powerhouses in the relays, the Jamaican quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Kerrica Hill and Tia Clayton&nbsp;ran a smoldering race to smash the previous world U20 record of 43.27 set by Germany four years ago to take their 12th women&rsquo;s 4x100m medal in World U20 Championships history and fifth 4x100m gold with a world record of 42.94. 
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 Winner of the women&rsquo;s 200m title, Christine Mboma, anchored the Namibian team to their first ever podium finish in the relays at the championships, a silver medal won with a national U20 record of 43.76, while Nigeria settled for bronze with a season&rsquo;s best of 43.90. That made them the country&rsquo;s first women&rsquo;s 4x100m medallists at the World U20 Championships since the first edition in 1986 where Tina Iheagwam, Caroline Nwajei, Falilat Ogunkoya and Mary Onyali also won bronze.
Women&rsquo;s 100m gold medallist Tina Clayton, who was delighted to finally share the podium with her twin sister Tia, said: &ldquo;Well, it was a really great race. I did an interview after my semifinal race in the 100m and I had told you guys that I know my team will come here and do their best and I think they came out to do their best.
&ldquo;It feels very great for Tia to win a medal because she didn&rsquo;t have a chance to win a medal in the 100m. She was on the anchor, and you know that when you&rsquo;re on the anchor in a relay race, all depends on you, but she came out here and executed well.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Pleased with her third silver of the championships, Namibia's Beatrice Masilingi said: &ldquo;A fantastic silver for the team which we achieved in a new national record. We were not in a strong position so credit to the team. We have had a good run in Nairobi.&rdquo; 
<h2>South Africa run 38.51</h2>
Toeing the path of their senior team that struck gold in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Relays in Poland back in May, the South African squad comprising Mihlali Xhotyeni,&nbsp;200m men&rsquo;s bronze medallist Sinesipho Dambile, Letlhogonolo Moleyane and 100m silver medalist Benjamin Richardson stormed to gold in Nairobi with a world U20 record of 38.51, finishing ahead of Jamaica who set an area U20 record of 38.61, while Poland also set an area record of 38.90 to win the bronze.
Richardson, who ran a fantastic anchor leg for South Africa, said afterwards: &ldquo;It feels very good to win the gold. We worked for it, and it feels like a very great achievement. I&rsquo;m happy for me and my team doing it together; we&rsquo;re all fast and together we got to a world record. Knowing Jamaica, I kept to my top speed on the last leg. Our performance here shows South Africa is getting good in the relays and individual events.&rdquo;
The Polish team of Dominik Lucznski, Patryk Krupa, Jakub Pietrusa and Oliwer Wdowik were ecstatic at their podium finish. Speaking for the team, second leg runner Krupa said: &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t expect this before the championships, so we are very happy. We are bronze medallists, wow. We run like a family, maybe that&rsquo;s the secret to Poland&rsquo;s improvement in the relays. This is a new European record. It was good performance, not perfect but we&rsquo;re really happy.&rdquo; 
<h2>Botswana blaze to gold</h2>
Botswana was the team to beat in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, with their major arsenal being 400m gold winner and championship record-holder Anthony Pesela. Combining forces with Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, Oreeditse Masede and Phenyo Bongani Majama, the quartet raced to a world U20 lead of 3:05.22. After anchor-leg runner Majama crossed the line in first place, he was joined on the track by the rest of his teammates with all four of them doing some pushups, imitating Isaac Makwala&rsquo;s iconic post-race reaction at the London World Championships in 2017 where he ran a solo 200m.
Taking silver was Jamaica with a season&rsquo;s best of 3:05.76. Host team Kenya beat Nigeria to bronze with their time of 3:05.94. 
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 &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really a great feeling&rdquo; Pesela said on winning his second gold of the competition. &ldquo;I want to thank my boys for qualifying for the final because I was resting for my 400m individual race. We did the pushups because Makwala is our role model, so we follow in his footsteps.&rdquo; 
<h2>A treble of titles for Uko</h2>
Having already won two gold medals in the women&rsquo;s 400m and mixed 4x400m respectively, Nigeria&rsquo;s emerging star in the quartermile Imaobong Nse Uko inspired her 4x400m teammates to a world U20 lead of 3:31.46 after putting the squad in pole position for gold, building on the good start from Opeyemi Oke and overtaking Jamaica&rsquo;s Aalliyah Francis to hand the baton to Ella Onojuvwevwo in first position. 
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 LSU freshman Favour Ofili, who had just helped the 4x100m team to bronze less than an hour before, consolidated on the lead and anchored the team to gold, her third medal of the competition as Jamaica posted a season&rsquo;s best of 3:36.57 for silver, an improvement from their third-place finish in Tampere three years ago. Italy&rsquo;s squad of Alessandra Iezzi, Federica Pansini, Angelica Ghergo and Alexandra Almici were the surprise bronze winners, having returned a time of 3:37.18 to cross the line ahead of India.
Ofili said: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s God&rsquo;s grace and the individual determination of each of us to win something here, that&rsquo;s what brought us together to win the gold."
&ldquo;We never expected this because the other countries are very strong and faster, so we are so happy," said Italy&rsquo;s Federica Pansini. &ldquo;Our season started in January so it&rsquo;s been a long season for us, but it&rsquo;s the best season ever for us. We wanted to make our country proud after not winning a medal in the event at the Olympics in Tokyo, so we hope we did that here.&rdquo; 
<h2>Hurdles wins for&nbsp;Salminen and Akcam</h2>
In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final, all top five finishers set personal bests with Finland&rsquo;s indoor U20 champion Heidi Salminen setting the pace with a lifetime best of 56.94. She was followed by Frenchwoman Ludivine Aubert, who clocked 57.16, while Canadian Savannah Sutherland, who is set to join the University of Michigan in November, clocked a new best of 57.27. 
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 In the men&rsquo;s final, the European U20 champion upgraded to world U20 champion. In the semifinal on Saturday, Turkey&rsquo;s Berke Akcam became the first ever U20 athlete and second overall from his country to dip under 50 seconds in the 400m hurdles when he ran an U20 record of 49.73, the fastest time in the semis. He followed that up with a strong showing in the final on Sunday which was so charged that the top four finishers all ran lifetime bests.
Berke, who initially led the race, slugged it out with Sweden&rsquo;s Oskar Edlund, the European U20 silver medallist. The latter would go on to win the race but was eventually disqualified.
Berke was upgraded to gold after setting his second national record in as many days, an impressive time of 49.38. Authorised neutral athlete Dennis Novoseltev took the silver with a personal best of 49.62, while Jamaica&rsquo;s No.1 U20 athlete Devontie Archer also set a lifetime best, taking the bronze in 49.78. Though he finished just outside the podium, Nigeria&rsquo;s Ezekiel Nathaniel&rsquo;s efforts were rewarded with a personal best of 49.89, his third personal best recorded at the championships.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

The World U20 Championships came to a climax with Jamaica and South Africa setting world U20 records in the women's and men’s 4x100m.

South Africa and Jamaica shatter world U20 4x100m records in Nairobi

A Kenyan middle distance blitz in the final session on Sunday (22), sparked by Emmanuel Wanyonyi&rsquo;s superb championship record in the men&rsquo;s 800m, ensured that the host nation topped the medal tally at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
If it was not already obvious to the world&rsquo;s best U20 athletes that they were walking into the lion&rsquo;s den in Nairobi, a trio of outstanding young Kenyan talents made it plain.
Wanyonyi, a 17-year-old talent guided by former world 800m champion Janeth Jepkosgei in the running mecca of Eldoret, executed his race to perfection to become the world U20 champion, crossing the finish line in 1:43.76, the eighth fastest time in the world this year in open competition.
That is 0.03 faster than Nijel Amos&rsquo; 2012 championship record, the year that Amos went on to become the Olympic silver medallist behind David Rudisha at the London Olympic Games. 
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 That&rsquo;s the rare air that Wanyonyi now occupies and he is young enough to defend his title at the next edition of the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia next year.
Yet his ambitions are bigger still.
&ldquo;Running a time of 1:43.76 at high altitude and setting a championship record has just confirmed that indeed I am good in this race," he said. &ldquo;I will keep pushing to see how much I can lower my new personal best. Who knows, maybe I can one day bring down Rudisha's world record.&rdquo;
His teammate Noah Kibet made the running in the first lap, taking the bell in 49.39, closely followed by Wanyonyi and Algeria&rsquo;s Mohamed Ali Gouaned. He continued to put on the pressure over the next 200m but his rivals were able to absorb it and respond.
Gouaned charged to the lead at the 200m mark, but Wanyonyi bided his time waiting for the straight to unleash an irresistible kick.
The Algerian held on to claim the silver medal in a national U20 record of 1:44.45, while Kibet also set a personal best time for the bronze (1:44.88).&nbsp;
Next on the track was 18-year-old Purity Chepkirui, coached by Bram Som, the former coach of Olympic and world 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon. 
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 She has also inherited Kipyegon&rsquo;s front-running style, taking the lead with two laps to go and fighting off her closest challenger, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diribe Welteji, to secure her first world title in 4:16.07.
Welteji, world U20 champion over 800m in Tampere three years ago, clocked 4:16.39 for the silver, with Winnie Jemutai claiming a second medal for the Kenyan team in 4:18.99.
Chepkirui said she was determined to triumph in her home stadium.
&ldquo;Just the mere fact that I am wearing a Kenyan jersey gave me the motivation to bring glory to our country," she said. &ldquo;I knew my Ethiopian rival will bring a fight to the race and I had made up my mind that I had to produce my best performance. The motivation from the home fans also helped me not to give in when Diribe of Ethiopia, with 200m to go, increased her speed and almost overtook me.&rdquo;
Two successive victories by his Kenyan teammates gave Amos Serem all the motivation he needed to make it a triple in the 3000m steeplechase, clinching Kenya&rsquo;s eighth gold medal of the championships. 
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 After watching Morocco&rsquo;s Soufiane El Bakkali snap Kenya&rsquo;s winning streak in this event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Serem said he was determined to restore Kenyan pride in this event.
&ldquo;I picked steeplechase because it is the race of Kenyans," he said.
&ldquo;I was only going to rest after I earned the world champion title. I am a huge fan of Ezekiel Kemboi (the dual Olympic and four-time world champion in the steeplechase). If you are keen you will notice that my running style is very similar to his. I am grateful that my coach Patrick Sang believed in me and moving forward, I can only hope that I will help my country reclaim the Olympic title.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He certainly has some weapons at his disposal, revealing a blinding turn of pace over the last lap of this race. At the bell, there were still three men in contention &ndash; Serem, his teammate Simon Koech and Tokyo Olympian Tadese Takele of Ethiopia &ndash; but not for long.
Serem turned on the jets and vanished into the distance, eventually winning by more than two seconds in 8:30.72. Takele secured the silver (8.33.15) and Koech took the bronze (8:34.79).
Like the charismatic Kemboi, Serem is an unusually demonstrative Kenyan athlete. Such was his speed over the final lap that he had time to launch into celebration in the last metres before the finish line.
After successive silver medals, Ethiopia struck back in the women&rsquo;s 5000m, claiming a gold and silver double that was not without drama. 
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 Second-placed Melknat Wudu (16:13.16) and third-placed Prisca Chesang of Uganda (16:21.78) were initially disqualified for stepping inside the kerb on the bend but the decision was reversed on appeal.
Mizan Alem reigned supreme amid all the confusion, winning comfortably in 16:05.61.
This was Wudu&rsquo;s second medal of the week after she won the bronze medal over 3000m.&nbsp;
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

A Kenyan middle distance blitz in the final session today, sparked by Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s superb championship record in the men’s 800m, ensured that the host nation topped the medal tally at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.

Kenya win three gold medals on the final day in Nairobi

Sweden&rsquo;s Maja Askag capped her U20 career in style in Nairobi, completing a superb horizontal jumps &lsquo;double double&rsquo; with long jump victory at the World Athletics U20 Championships on Sunday (22).
On an action-packed final session at the Kasarani Stadium, Lithuania&rsquo;s Mykolas Alekna achieved the second-longest U20 throw in history to break the discus championship record, while Sweden&rsquo;s Gabriel Wallmark took the men&rsquo;s triple jump title and authorised neutral athlete Natalya Spiridonova won the women&rsquo;s high jump.
Askag had gone into the competition as a double European U20 champion, with the 18-year-old having won both the long jump and triple jump titles at the European U20 Championships. She achieved the same feat in Kenya, leaping a PB of 6.60m to seal long jump success after her triple jump win two days earlier.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m super happy,&rdquo; said the two-time national indoor triple jump champion. &ldquo;Everything has happened so fast. At the beginning of the season, I wouldn&rsquo;t have believed this, so now standing here with four championship golds, it&rsquo;s crazy.&rdquo;
The teenager had enjoyed a brilliant breakthrough to win her continental titles, leaping beyond 14 metres for the first time in the triple jump and soaring a marginally wind-assisted 6.80m (2.2m/s) in the long jump. In Nairobi, she improved her wind-legal long jump PB to win by just a single centimetre ahead of India's Shaili Singh, who recorded a slightly wind-aided 6.59m (2.2m/s) in the third round.
There was a close battle for bronze and that medal was won by Ukraine&rsquo;s Mariia Horielova as she leapt a PB of 6.50m, just 3cm further than Jamaican Shantae Foreman&rsquo;s PB performance, while Spain&rsquo;s triple jump silver medallist Tessy Ebosele was fifth with a best of 6.46m, just 1cm off Foreman&rsquo;s mark. 
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 Askag started her series with 6.29m, before improving to 6.33m and 6.44m. Her 6.60m (1.5m/s) came in the fourth round and after a fifth-round foul she jumped 6.48m with her final attempt.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a PB but, as I felt in the triple jump, I have more in me,&rdquo; Askag added. &ldquo;So it&rsquo;s a little bit frustrating. But I have nothing to complain about. I am super happy and it&rsquo;s an honour to be here and represent Sweden.
&ldquo;This is a big step up. I am competing against the world&rsquo;s best juniors. Next season I will be aiming for the senior European Championships.&rdquo;
Singh, meanwhile, opened with 6.34m and matched that in the second round, improving to her 6.59m in the third round to make history for India. Never before had an Indian athlete claimed a jumps medal at the World U20 Championships, with Singh&rsquo;s medal the fifth ever claimed for her nation at this event. The 17-year-old, who is coached by former triple jumper Robert Bobby George, the husband of 2003 world long jump bronze medallist Anju Bobby George, will hope to add to her medal tally at the next edition of the World U20 Championships in Cali. 
<h2>Wallmark also does a double for Sweden</h2>
Sweden&rsquo;s Wallmark had started the season with two goals &ndash; to win the European U20 title and to claim gold at the World U20 Championships. With the continental title secured in Tallinn, he completed the double in Nairobi &ndash; leaping a national record of 16.43m to do so.
The 19-year-old had jumped 16.39m to win in Tallinn, adding more than a metre to his pre-2021 best. He improved that by another 4cm to get his global gold and feels he still has much more to give.
&ldquo;It feels amazing,&rdquo; he said. "This has been the main goal for this season, as well as the European Championships. I feel like I have even more in my body to get out in my jumps.
&ldquo;It was a great competition with great weather, great winds. I couldn&rsquo;t really ask for more.&rdquo; 
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 Wallmark was one of two 16m-plus athletes on the entry list and Jamaican 16-year-old Jaydon Hibbert, who jumped 16.02m to win at the NACAC U18 Championships, also matched his billing as No.2 to secure the silver with a PB of 16.05m.
That mark had come in the second round and Wallmark explained how it motivated him into action.
&ldquo;People were jumping great today,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When the Jamaican guy jumped 16.05m and passed me there, the adrenaline just pumped up and I knew the next jump was going to be far.&rdquo;
Wallmark had opened with a 15.91m leap and followed that with a foul, but when Hibbert soared out to his 16.05m, the Swedish star responded with 16.29m and then achieved his best of 16.43m in the fourth round. He passed the fifth and closed his series with 16.05m.
At just 16, Hibbert will still be eligible for U20 competition through to 2024 and after adding 3cm to his PB he said: &ldquo;To be competing against the world&rsquo;s best, it feels good! On my second attempt I was feeling some pain in my shin area, but I had to do what I had to do. I jumped and I set a PB, so I&rsquo;m grateful.&rdquo;
Trying to manage his discomfort, Hibbert passed his third attempt and failed his fourth and sixth, also recording 15.68m in the first and 14.74m in the fifth rounds.
&ldquo;At a young age, it&rsquo;s overwhelming because a lot of people don&rsquo;t expect young people like me to do this good,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe it, to be honest!&rdquo;
Simon Gore of France had been a metre down on his best in the European U20 Championships final and placed 11th, but he bounced back with a PB performance of 15.85m in Nairobi which gained him bronze. 
<h2>Alekna gets his global gold</h2>
Lithuania&rsquo;s Alekna lived up to his billing as favourite in the men&rsquo;s discus and followed in the footsteps of his father to become a global champion.
The son of 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medallist Virgilijus, Mykolas was another athlete to add the world U20 title to the European U20 gold he gained in Tallinn and he did so thanks to a championship record-breaking throw. 
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 Alekna, who was already second on the world U20 all-time list with 69.77m from June, improved by 4cm and is now just 32 centimetres off the world U20 record set with the 1.75kg implement.
Jamaica&rsquo;s Ralford Mullings threw a PB of 66.68m to secure silver, while bronze was claimed by Raman Khartanovich of Belarus with a 62.19m PB.
One throw is all it would have taken for Alekna to make history. He launched the discus to his championship record in the very first round and followed it with a foul, then marks of 68.52m, 67.67m, 67.10m and 66.46m.
For Mullings, his 66.68m PB was backed up with marks of 64.90m and 64.74m.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling great,&rdquo; said Alekna. &ldquo;It was a great competition, good athletes. It was amazing to be here. I tried to do my best with the first throw and I did a personal best. I was very excited. Then I just felt more confidence for my other throws. I have been working for this moment for many years.&rdquo;
On learning from his father, the 18-year-old added: &ldquo;He gives me very good tips and he is really experienced so he gave me a lot of good advice. He said I should be relaxed and that I could do it.&rdquo; 
<h2>Spiridonova goes from European medallist to world champion</h2>
The women&rsquo;s high jump saw Spiridonova progress from European U20 silver medallist to world U20 champion as she equalled her PB of 1.91m on her first attempt to win the title.
The 19-year-old led a record-breaking podium, with Marithe-Therese Engondo setting a Swiss U20 record of 1.89m for silver and 17-year-old Styliana Ioannidou claiming a first ever medal for Cyprus at the World U20 Championships with a national U20 record of 1.87m for bronze. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61229608a4380c351612abd0.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Spiridonova, who claimed European U20 bronze in 2019 and went one better than that with her silver in Tallinn, began her competition at the opening height of 1.75m and she cleared that and 1.80m first time. She needed all three tries at 1.84m, before managing 1.87m on the second time of asking. For 1.89m she also needed three attempts and she then soared over 1.91m on her first go to get gold. She went on to have one attempt at 1.93m before having the bar moved to 1.94m, which she missed twice.
Leaving the track clutching a teddy bear, which was a good luck gift from her grandfather, she said: &ldquo;I am very happy to claim my first world title. It is a very cool experience, a high level, and I am glad to be here.&rdquo;
Engondo had one attempt at 1.91m after her first-time clearance of 1.89m and then passed to 1.93m, but she was unable to make that height.
Ioannidou, meanwhile, had a perfect record of first-time clearances up to her national U20 record height of 1.87m for bronze.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Sweden’s Maja Askag capped her U20 career in style in Nairobi, completing a superb horizontal jumps ‘double double’.

Askag completes impressive jumps 'double double' in Nairobi

Speaking ahead of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, event ambassador and world 800m record-holder David Rudisha singled out passion as being key for rising athletics stars. &ldquo;When you love what you do, you can push to the highest level,&rdquo; he said.
That is clearly the case for the newly-crowned world U20 pole vault champion, Mire Reinstorf.
The 19-year-old didn&rsquo;t expect to win in Nairobi, but with the performance of her life she made a sensational international debut, clearing an African U20 record of 4.15m to get gold ahead of Elise Russis of France and Canada&rsquo;s Heather Abadie.
&ldquo;I'm so happy and grateful for this,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It's my first international competition and I'm so grateful it turned out this way. I honestly didn't think that I was going to get a medal.&rdquo;
But she did, and a gold one at that. 
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 Reinstorf was determined to enjoy the experience in Kenya, and combining her athletics career with her first-year studies in actuarial science at Stellenbosch University gives the student-athlete the balance she needs to remain passionate about both areas of her life.
&ldquo;I have always enjoyed sport a lot, I have done gymnastics and netball as well and in primary school I did hockey and a lot of other sports. It balances out well, with the studying and the training,&rdquo; she explained.
&ldquo;I actually never even knew it existed,&rdquo; Reinstorf added, on her introduction to the pole vault. &ldquo;In primary school I did hurdles and then when I went to high school I continued with that, but because I did gymnastics, it helps a lot with pole vault technique, so my mother said &lsquo;just go and try it&rsquo;. I went and I couldn&rsquo;t put the pole down after that!&rdquo;
So what is it about the pole vault that she loves the most? &ldquo;Everything!&rdquo; she replied with a smile. &ldquo;I love that feeling in the air when you clear the bar.&rdquo;
It has been a breakthrough year for the two-time South African champion, who is unbeaten this season and has improved her best by 35cm. She impressed on her season opener, clearing a big PB of 4.12m in March, and her national U20 title win in Paarl in April was followed by senior success in Pretoria six days later. She then won the South African University Championships in June and that was her last competition ahead of the global event in Nairobi. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61223ae56c2ffd00d90d80b8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Dan Vernon)
 &ldquo;I started this year with a PB of 3.80m and then at one of our Boland League competitions I jumped the 4.12m, my PB,&rdquo; explained Reinstorf, whose great grandfather was a South African champion in the hammer throw. &ldquo;I have really progressed and I can really see it, in the way I have been jumping.&rdquo;
Part of the reason for her progress, she added, is her change in set-up. The teenager did not really watch athletics while growing up, but she has also been inspired more recently by seeing some of the world&rsquo;s best compete.
&ldquo;I grew up on a farm, so we didn&rsquo;t really have television, we could only watch movies,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I watched the Tokyo Olympics and I was really inspired by Katie Nageotte, who won. She really jumped well.
"I thought Sidorova (silver medallist Anzhelika) was going to make it but they all have excellent technique and I really strive to that, to get my technique as good as that. I am going to keep watching them and I also follow them on Instagram, so I am keeping up with what they are doing."
On her own journey, she added: &ldquo;This year I actually moved from my small town, George, in South Africa and now I am attending university in Stellenbosch. It&rsquo;s around a four-hour drive away. So I got a new coach and we really work great together.&rdquo;
Her coach now is Jean-Paul van As, and Reinstorf is delighted that their partnership so far has led to her creating history as she became the first South African athlete to ever claim a women&rsquo;s pole vault medal at the World U20 Championships.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing, I didn&rsquo;t know that," she beamed. "I think I made a bit of history!&rdquo;
Just as she is motivated by her more experienced peers, Reinstorf&rsquo;s breakthrough in Nairobi is sure to help inspire the next generation of pole vault stars.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

A breakthrough performance saw the 19-year-old become the first South African athlete to ever claim a women’s pole vault medal at the World U20 Championships.

How Reinstorf rose to inspired pole vault performance in Nairobi

World Athletics U20 Championships competition comes to a close in Nairobi on Sunday (22) but first there are a thrilling 14 finals taking place during an action-packed session.
First up is the men's triple jump, before the women's and men's 400m hurdles, women's high jump, men's 800m, women's 1500m, men's discus, men's 3000m steeplechase, women's long jump, the women's and men's 4x100m relays, the women's 5000m final and then the women's and men's 4x400m relays.
Here are five things to follow on day five.&nbsp; 
<h2>4x400m relays</h2>
Women's final: 5:55pm. Men's final: 6:10pm local time
The last two events on the programme are the women's and men's 4x400m finals. In the women's event, Jamaica &ndash; a regular medallist in this event at senior and U20 level &ndash; will start as slight favourites ahead of Nigeria, who look tough to beat. Should she run and Nigeria win, 17-year-old Imaobong Nse Uko could get her third gold medal of the week after her wins in the 400m and mixed 4x400m.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-relays-combined-events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a>
Much to the delight of those in the stands, Kenya led the first round of the men's event, qualifying for the final with the quickest time of 3:05.77.&nbsp;
Their team finished fourth in their heat, but three years after their memorable victory in this event at the last World U20 Championships, Italy will be hoping for another medal and they can bring individual sixth-placer, Lorenzo Benati, into the team. The Nigerian team could feature two of the four mixed 4x400m medallists in&nbsp;Johnson Nnamani and&nbsp;Bamidele Ajayi, while individual 400m champion Anthony Pesela could join Botswana's quartet.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-relays-combined-events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Men's 3000m steeplechase</h2>
Final:&nbsp;4:05pm local time
Even though fans cannot be in the stadium, athletes have still been receiving some strong support, especially those racing on home soil.&nbsp;
Kenya's Amos Serem and Simon Kiprop Koech, who won the two men's 3000m steeplechase heats, will be looking to use the home advantage as they race against a field including Ethiopia's Tadese Takele, who has ran 8:09.37 when winning at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials in Hengelo in June. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Samuel Firewu is an 8:20.27 performer this year, and Uganda&rsquo;s Leonard Chemutai has clocked 8:40.88.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-mens-distance-race-walks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Women's long jump</h2>
Final: 4:25pm local time
Fresh from their respective gold and silver medal wins in the triple jump, both Sweden's double European U20 champion Maja Askag and Spain&rsquo;s Tessy Ebosele will be aiming for the podium again in the long jump.
For&nbsp;Askag, a second gold would make her the first athlete since 1994 to achieve&nbsp;the horizonal jumps double at the World U20 Championships.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-womens-jumps-throws-copy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Men's discus</h2>
Final: 4:00pm local time
Going by his recent performances, Lithuania&rsquo;s Mykolas Alekna looks set to follow in his father&rsquo;s footsteps and become a global champion. The son of 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medallist Virgilijus, Mykolas has thrown 69.77m this year, a mark which puts him second on the world U20 all-time list.&nbsp;Looking to challenge him will be Jamaica&rsquo;s Ralford Mullings, who threw 66.61m in June.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-mens-jumps-throws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Women's 400m hurdles</h2>
Final: 3:00pm local time
Garriel White has raced in five finals over the 400m hurdles outdoors this year and she&rsquo;s triumphed in every one. The icing on the cake was setting a PB of 57.28 to win the Jamaican U20 Championships, and the 18-year-old will be hoping to maintain her winning streak in the world U20 final. She could also return for the 4x400m final a few hours later.
Canadian athlete Savannah Sutherland has also remained unbeaten in her races over the same distance and set her lifetime best of 57.87 a month ago.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/nairobi21/news/preview/world-u20-nairobi-previews-womens-sprints-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a>

World Athletics U20 Championships competition comes to a close in Nairobi on Sunday (22) but first there are a thrilling 14 finals taking place during an action-packed session.

Five things to follow on the fifth and final day in Nairobi

South Africa&rsquo;s Mine De Klerk sealed a sensational medal double with a golden performance in the shot put, while Yonathan Kapitolnik&nbsp;made history once again for Israel on the penultimate afternoon of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
Just one day after her silver medal-winning performance in the discus, De Klerk returned to the Kasarani Stadium on Saturday (21) to complete an impressive throws campaign.
The South African champion and national U20 record-holder would have needed just one throw to secure victory in her favoured event, as she launched the shot 17.30m in the first round, but she went on to enjoy a solid series from which any of her five valid throws would have been enough to take the title. She eventually capped her afternoon with 17.40m in the final round.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s overwhelming, I still can&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s true,&rdquo; said the 18-year-old, who followed her opening 17.30m with throws of 17.24m, 16.77m, 17.15m, a foul and then 17.40m.
&ldquo;I definitely wanted to win a medal in the shot put, gold was my goal. In the discus, I didn&rsquo;t expect to get a medal at all. I just came to enjoy it. When I got the silver I was blown away.&rdquo;
Turkey&rsquo;s 17-year-old Pinar Akyol went into the competition with a world U20-leading PB of 17.65m, a mark 10cm better than this season&rsquo;s No.2, De Klerk. But the tables turned in Nairobi as De Klerk got gold and Akyol the silver, with the European U20 champion having thrown 16.72m in the third round.
There was double medal success for South Africa, with De Klerk&rsquo;s teammate Dane Roets, the 2018 African Youth Games champion, claiming bronze with a best of 15.61m.
Theirs are two of South Africa&rsquo;s eight medals claimed so far in Nairobi and on the success of the whole squad, De Klerk added: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of what we all have achieved because everyone is doing brilliant, it just keeps amazing us every day.&rdquo;
Another athlete who is sure to have amazed his team is Israel&rsquo;s Kapitolnik, as he became his nation&rsquo;s first ever world U20 champion. The 18-year-old high jumper had already made history in July by claiming Israel's first ever European U20 title in Tallinn and in Nairobi he had the competition of his life to add global gold to that continental success. 
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 The high jump final had come down to a four-way battle for the medals but 2.17m proved to be the decisive height. Kapitolnik had entered the competition at 2.06m and, like Italian U20 champion Massimiliano Luiu, Poland&rsquo;s European U20 silver medallist Mateusz Kolodziejski and Nigerian U20 record-holder Omamuyovwi Erhire, he had a perfect record up to 2.14m. While Kapitolnik and Luiu soared clear first-time at 2.17m, Kolodziejski needed three attempts. The medals were then decided, with Erhire unable to make it over that bar, and when Luiu and Kolodziejski both couldn&rsquo;t manage 2.19m, Kapitolnik&rsquo;s victory was secured.
He decided to skip 2.21m and with the bar at a PB height of 2.26m he soared clear first time to add one centimetre to his previous best set in Tallin. Prior to this year, his PB had been 2.18m.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling great,&rdquo; said Kapitolnik. &ldquo;Everyone that comes here is such a great athlete, you can&rsquo;t come to this world competition if you are not the best of the best. So the fact that I am coming here, competing with the best of the best in our age, and being able to do this and win, it&rsquo;s really great.&rdquo;
Luiu&rsquo;s first-time clearances up to 2.17m secured him the silver, with Kolodziejski getting bronze on countback.
&ldquo;I had a point to prove in Kenya, having failed to make the final in the European Championships last month,&rdquo; said Luiu. &ldquo;You can say I was motivated for revenge, which I did in style. Both the medallists were really very strong.&rdquo; 
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 Finland&rsquo;s Silja Kosonen had broken the 16-year-old world U20 hammer record in June, throwing 73.43m, and she was in record-breaking form again in Nairobi. Dominating the competition, the 18-year-old European U20 champion opened with 70.53m before improving to a championship record of 71.64m in the second round. She managed 68.41m in the third round and fouled the fourth, before 65.28m in the fifth and then 70.63m in the sixth.
French thrower Rose Loga, who set a national U20 record of 71.09m in January and secured silver behind Kosonen in Tallinn, was again the runner-up as she threw 67.11m. It was a repeat of the European podium as Maryola Bukel of Belarus claimed bronze thanks to a 65.20m throw.
&ldquo;It has just been the perfect season,&rdquo; said Kosonen, who also competed at the Olympic Games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to remember this day forever.
&ldquo;Out of my five well taken throws, three of them were above 70 metres, and that shows me that I am on the right track in my career.&rdquo;
A barrier was broken in the decathlon as Frantisek Doubek of the Czech Republic achieved an 8000-point performance for the first time, scoring a world U20-leading 8169 points to get gold ahead of Belgium&rsquo;s European U20 champion Jente Hauttekeete. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61216208a34b40e56740f4dd.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Doubek didn&rsquo;t have the chance to go for gold in that competition in Tallinn, as he was disqualified from the decathlon 400m, and so this victory offered something of a redemption.
&ldquo;I feel really amazing right now, I never thought I could score over 8000 and now it is 8169,&rdquo; said&nbsp;Doubek, who improved&nbsp;Jiri Sykora's Czech U20 record and moved to fourth on the world U20 all-time list. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy with that.&rdquo;
On his disqualification in Tallinn, he added: &ldquo;I was so sad about it, because I felt that I could beat 8000 points there.&rdquo;
Pushing him in Nairobi was Hauttekeete, who secured silver with 8053 points, while Spain&rsquo;s Jose San Pastor will join them on the podium after scoring a national U20 record of 7430 points to also bounce back after a 400m disqualification during the European U20 competition.
Doubek achieved his victory thanks to superb consistency across the 10 events, which saw him finish top in the 400m (48.72) and discus (45.74m), and second in the 100m (10.93), long jump (7.19m), high jump (1.97m), 110m hurdles (14.10), pole vault (4.80m) and javelin (64.03m). He also threw 14.96m in the shot and ended the two days of competition with 4:52.39 in the 1500m.
Hauttekeete, meanwhile, had led through the first eight events, before slipping to silver when&nbsp;Doubek's&nbsp;64.03m javelin throw saw a&nbsp;50-point deficit turned into a 142-point advantage. He clocked 10.89 in the 100m, leapt 7.44m in the long jump, threw 15.61m in the shot, cleared 2.09m in the high jump and then ran 48.99 in the 400m to finish the first day in top spot. On day two he ran 13.95 in the 110m hurdles, threw 41.47m in the discus and cleared 4.50m in the pole vault, before a 51.24m javelin throw and 4:48.18 1500m.
Finland&rsquo;s Ville Toivonen and Aleksi Savolainen placed fourth and fifth with respective scores of 7275 and 7183.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

South Africa’s Mine De Klerk sealed a sensational medal double with a golden performance in the shot put, while Yonathan Kapitolnik made history once again for Israel.

Medal double for De Klerk, while Kapitolnik makes history for Israel in Nairobi

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NAIROBI, Kenya (August 21) &ndash; Few Kenyans expected a gold medal in the 10,000m walk, with Herristone Wanyonyi as the lone representative in a field of 24 athletes. Wanyonyi of Kenya made history on Saturday at the ongoing World Athletics Under-20 Championships. Wanyonyi's victory in race walk on a chilly morning at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani is the first by a Kenyan at the world championship level in the youth, junior, or senior categories.
Heristone Wanyonyi (born June 30, 2003) is a Kenyan racewalker who specializes in the 10,000 meter walk.
&ldquo;I am overjoyed to have won this medal today because I have demonstrated that Kenya can produce good race walkers as well. It serves as motivation for me and others who want to participate in the sport. &ldquo;I am overjoyed because it was not easy,&rdquo; Wanyonyi says.
&ldquo;I just decided to stick to the front of the pack and keep going as long as I felt I had energy. I knew I was going to win gold with four laps to go. I just kept a steady pace and went up when the time came,&rdquo; he added. With more than eight laps to go, Wanyonyi and Amit were the clear favorites. They'd broken away after being part of a leading group for the majority of the first laps.
The Kenyan stayed near the back for the majority of the first laps and didn't seem bothered by the large group in front of him. At the halfway point,
Dmitry Framachkov, representing neutral athletes, led the front pack, with Amit second, McGrath third, and Wanyonyi fourth.
But, gradually, he began to gain ground, trailing the race leader, India's Amit. With more than eight laps remaining, the field disintegrated, with the two leading the pack.
Wanyonyi attempted to pass the Indian with three laps remaining, but he reclaimed the lead with two laps remaining. Wanyonyi waited patiently. He never moved an eyelid as he waited for the right moment to strike.
The Kenyan made the move and weaved past the Indian at the sound of the bell. He increased the gap on the backstraight and confidently strutted down the tartan as he went for gold. Amit finished second in 42:17.94, while McGrath finished third in 42:26.11, a new Personal Best time. The gap between the leaders and the winners was so large that the fourth-placed athlete crossed the finish line 11 seconds later.
Wanyonyi gave it to Edward Moti, his teacher at Sigirio Primary School in West Pokot, who had enticed him to race walk from the 10,000m track. Wanyonyi, who is currently training with coach Geoffrey Otwani at Ruaraka's General Service Unit (GSU) camp, said, &ldquo;Moti could have YouTube sessions for me and he told me to try the sport.&rdquo;
Wanyonyi, who recently completed his secondary school education at Ortum Boys in West Pokot, says his current goal is to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It won't just be about participation; I want to give Kenya a gold medal,&rdquo; Wanyonyi stated confidently. Wanyonyi hopes that his victory will inspire more young people to participate in athletics and has urged Athletics Kenya and the government to focus on developing events other than middle and long distance races.
&nbsp;
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Sasha Zhoya (born 25 June 2002) is a French-Zimbabwean athlete of Australian origin who competes for France in international track and field competition. He was born in Subiaco, Australia, and currently holds three World U18 Best Performances (110 m hurdles, Pole vault, and 60 m hurdles) as well as two World U20 Records (60 m hurdles, 110 m hurdles).
Zhoya of France broke the men's under-20s 110m hurdles world record for the second time in 24 hours on Saturday to win the age group World Athletics Championships in Kenya. Zhoya, 19, who was born and raised in Australia to a Zimbabwean father and a French mother, ran 12.72 seconds to win gold, improving his semi-final time by 0.21 seconds from Friday.
"I'm very happy, the job is done; it was the goal I set for myself last year," Zhoya told World Athletics. "Today during the warm-up, I experienced hip pain. It's difficult, but that's the life of an athlete "He continued.
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Vincent Keter won Kenya's fifth gold medal at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships on Saturday, with Kamar Etyang disqualified for lane infringement despite finishing third.
Keter blazed the final lap before delivering a devastating finishing kick down the homestretch, stopping the clock in 3mins, 37.24secs, with the Ethiopian duo of Wegene Addisu and Melkeneh Azize claiming silver and bronze following Etyang's disqualification.
He set a new personal best time of 42 minutes, 10.84 seconds, holding off a strong challenge from India's Amit, who finished second, and Spain's Paul McGrath, who finished third for bronze.
Mercy Namachanja for World Athletics

Day Four of The World Athletics Under 20 Championships 2021 Nairobi

If anyone thought Sasha Zhoya&rsquo;s record-breaking feat on Friday in the 110m hurdles semifinals was a fluke, the European U20 champion cleared all doubts in the final when he totally obliterated the world U20 record he had set barely 24 hours before.
Running a calculated and spectacular race at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Saturday (21), he stopped the clock at an astonishing 12.72, holding everyone at the Kasarani Stadium spellbound as he further underlined his status as the greatest ever in the event at U20 level.
Coming to Nairobi as the world leader and favourite for gold, the 19-year-old was ready to give a good show and this he did as he progressed through the rounds, easily maintaining an unbeaten run all through to win his heat with 13.12 before smashing the world record with the first legal sub-13 of his career, a time of 12.93 in the semifinals.
In the final, Zhoya attacked the hurdles like a man on a mission and as soon as he shot out of the blocks, he had the rest of the field with him. On the extreme right was Jamaica&rsquo;s Vashaun Vascianna who also got a good start and was still with him by the fifth hurdle.
However, Vascianna brought down a hurdle which slowed him down and even Zhoya clipped the sixth barrier. Nevertheless, there was no catching him by the seventh hurdle as he crossed the line in 12.72, his jaw dropping as he checked the clock while crossing the line.&nbsp; 
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 Reminiscent of any world record-breaking race, there were enough spoils to go around, with Vascianna clocking a personal best of 13.25 to take silver while Polish athlete Jakub Szymanski took the bronze with a lifetime best of 13.43. Fourth-placed Qatari hurdler Saeed Othman Alabsi set a national U20 record of 13.46 while the second French athlete in the race, Erwann Cinna, finished fifth, also with a personal best of 13.50.
Speaking after his historic race, Zhoya said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy with this time and I&rsquo;m happy I could show everyone that yesterday wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, because if you do a 12.94, it&rsquo;s a very good time but I wanted to make sure people didn&rsquo;t think it was just a one-time thing and I did that again today.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the quickest time on any hurdle height and that makes me really happy. Now all I need to do is to replicate my junior performance to the senior category as I now focus into transiting into the seniors. Now I am really to tackle all the senior competitions slotted for 2022 including the World Championships in Oregon.&rdquo;
When asked how much winning the world title meant to him, the world U20 record-holder said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first world medal. I took away the European gold medal and the first goal here was to take away the gold medal, an international world medal, and then the second was to do the record and I got to do both in one race so I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;
Silver medalist Vascianna was pleased at his podium finish. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really a good feeling given that I came here not the best version of myself. I am proud that I was part of the historic race where a world record was smashed, I feel that I contributed much to it because I was right there with Sasha," he said.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final also wasn&rsquo;t without its own share of drama. The stage was set for a two-horse race between world leader Ackera Nugent and European U20 champion Ditaji Kambundji, and the latter exploded out of the blocks to take the lead. However, she crashed into the fourth hurdle and stumbled, taking Estonia&rsquo;s Viktoria Forster down with her.
Without Kambundji to push, Nugent stormed to the gold in 12.95 as Estonia&rsquo;s Anna Maria Millend took the silver with 13.45, with Hungarian Anna Toth snatching bronze in a time of 13.58. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210250e8797f76236e9dc1.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Dan Vernon)
 &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really feeling good because I came out here and did my best and didn&rsquo;t let my country down," said Nugent after the race.
&ldquo;I think that she (Ditaji) would have brought me to lower my time because she was a bit ahead of me and I was coming back, so I know I was really focused to get her, and then the fact that I caught her on the fourth hurdle and then she stumbled. I was really looking forward for her to medal because she&rsquo;s a really good competitor, dedicated, and I look forward to competing with her next year and the remaining years.&rdquo;
The significance of the Baylor University freshman&rsquo;s achievement wasn&rsquo;t lost on her as she becomes the first Jamaican woman since Gillian Russel in 1992 to win the 100m hurdles at the World U20 Championships.
&ldquo;I really feel phenomenal to see that the hurdlers are taking over and making history because Megan (Tapper) made history of getting the first bronze medal in the Olympics for Jamaica, and now from 30 years I&rsquo;m getting the gold for the U20. It really means a lot that I&rsquo;m in the history books too,&rdquo; she said.
After getting back on her feet following the fall, Kambundji immediately reached out to Forster who was still sprawled on the track.
A tearful Kambundji would later say: &ldquo;It was hard that I took someone down with me. It wasn&rsquo;t really what I wanted. I&rsquo;m really sorry. I fell and she (Forster) fell with me, so reaching out to her was the smallest thing I could do. I had a lot of energy and was prepared for the race. I think that too much energy pushed me too close to the hurdle and that made me fall.&rdquo;
Meanwhile it was a clean sweep for Africa in the men and women&rsquo;s 200m finals with Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa taking all six medals at stake to bring an exciting end to a historic night.
In the women&rsquo;s race the top three contenders, Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma, her teammate Beatrice Masilingi and Nigeria&rsquo;s Favour Ofili, went all out and though Ofili tried to keep up with the pair, she faltered a bit at the end as Mboma smashed Masilingi&rsquo;s one-day-old championship record, striking gold with 21.84. That inspired Masilingi to a personal best of 22.18 as Ofili set a national U20 record of 22.23 to take the bronze.&nbsp; 
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 African record-holder Mboma, whose time in Nairobi was&nbsp;just 0.03 off her own world U20 record set in Tokyo,&nbsp;said: &ldquo;Records come and go; you don't own it. Yesterday I set a championship record and minutes later Masilingi lowered it even further."
Prior to the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, not much was known about Udodi Onwuzurike, but the 18-year-old has been in a class of his own since arriving at the championships where he is representing Nigeria for the first time in his career. He had the fastest time of all the heats (20.47) and stormed to a fast 20.13 in the semifinals which would have been a championship record but for the wind (2.4m/s).
In the final, he was quick out of the blocks and came off the bend before everyone else, coasting home to gold with a Nigerian U20 record of 20.21, making him the country&rsquo;s first 200m gold medalist at the World U20 Championships since 1996 when Francis Obikwelu won the sprint double. 
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 Pre-championship favourite Botswana&rsquo;s Letsile Tebogo, who was still recovering from running three rounds in the 100m as well as the 200m, settled for silver with 20.38 as South Africa&rsquo;s Sinesipho Dambile took the bronze with a season&rsquo;s best of 20.48.
Still coming to terms with his good fortune, Onwuzurike &ndash; whose father was at the stadium to cheer him on &ndash; said: &ldquo;It feels amazing. I had a very rough year and had injuries numerous times. I feel like my numbers weren&rsquo;t really good and showing what I&rsquo;m capable of, so coming out to show on the global stage that I&rsquo;m the best is amazing.&rdquo;
The finalists of the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles event emerged with six out of eight of them setting personal bests enroute to their advancement to Sunday&rsquo;s final. European U20 gold medallist Berke Akcam laid down the gauntlet with his stunning performance in the first semifinal race, storming to a Turkish U20 record of 49.73 to secure his spot as the fastest qualifier, spurring Jamaica&rsquo;s Devontie Archer and Nigerian Ezekiel Nathaniel to lifetime bests of 49.93 and 51.39 respectively.
All three qualifiers from heat two also clocked personal bests, and leading the way was authorised neutral athlete Denis Novoseltev, who set a new mark of 50.31, while Slovenia&rsquo;s Matic Ian Gucek and Peter Kithome clocked lifetime bests of 50.56 and 50.90 to secure their spots in the final. Joining them from heat three will be Sweden&rsquo;s Oskar Edlund with a season&rsquo;s best of 50.70, and Croatian Stjepan Jan Cik (51.83).
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

If anyone thought Sasha Zhoya’s record-breaking feat on Friday in the 110m hurdles semifinals was a fluke, the European U20 champion cleared all doubts when he totally obliterated the world record he had set barely 24 hours before.

Zhoya smashes world U20 record again as Mboma, Onwuzurike lead African 200m sweep in Nairobi

The African charge continued on the penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi as Botswana revealed more of the exciting sprinting talent it has coming down the pipeline.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m final on Saturday (21),&nbsp;Anthony Pesela&nbsp;came from fourth place at the turn with an irresistible surge in the home straight to seal the southern African nation&rsquo;s best ever showing at this level of championship competition.
His teammate Letsile Tebogo had opened Botswana&rsquo;s account with victory in the 100m and backed that up to win the silver medal in the 200m today to give their team two golds and a silver medal from the individual men&rsquo;s sprints. It was just a shame that Botswana&rsquo;s 4x100m relay team was disqualified for a false start in the heats earlier in the day.
Previously the Batswani had won just one gold medal in their history at the World U20 Championships, with Nijel Amos&rsquo; win over 800m in 2012. 
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 Pesela, 19, was an alternate on Botswana&rsquo;s Olympic 4x400m relay team this year but didn&rsquo;t have the opportunity to run in Tokyo. However he made up for that disappointment in Nairobi, running a remarkably mature race to secure the gold medal.
South African favourite Lythe Pillay roared past him in the inside lane in the first 150m, but Pesela&nbsp;remained relaxed and waited to unleash his impressive finish.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t panic, I knew that I had a strong last 100m," Pesela&nbsp;said.
So strong that he improved his personal best by more than a second in the final, clocking a championship record of 44.58 to win comfortably from Mexico&rsquo;s Luis Aviles Ferreiro in a national U20 record of 44.95 and South Africa&rsquo;s Antonie Nortje, in a personal best of 45.32. Pillay faded to fourth place.
By the end of the session, Pesela&rsquo;s teammates were singing and dancing in the grandstands, overjoyed by the performance of their team here.
Earlier, another Tokyo Olympian, Nigeria&rsquo;s 17-year-old pocket rocket Imaobong Uko, secured her first individual world title in a personal best of 51.55. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210bb0c974868a2c287e5f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Uko was a member of the Nigerian mixed 4x400m team in Tokyo, and won her first gold medal with her team in the mixed 4x400m relay on the opening day of these championships. &nbsp;
Poland&rsquo;s&nbsp;Kornelia Lesiewicz&nbsp;came through to win the silver medal in a personal best time (51.97), while Kenya&rsquo;s surprise packet Sylvia Chelangat slashed three seconds from her PB during the course of the event to secure the bronze medal (52.23).&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable that I am a two-time gold medallist in this competition," Uko said. &ldquo;I followed my coach's advice to hit it hard from the very beginning. Now I&rsquo;m going home with a gold medal and a new PB.&rdquo;
Given her relative youth, she will have the opportunity to defend her title at the next World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, next year.
Chelangat, also 17, said that she was delighted to win a medal over 400m but that her future would lie with the 800m.
The future of Kenyan middle distance running looks secure after world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot&rsquo;s young training partner Vincent Keter claimed the world U20 title over 1500m today. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210570bd4db24fea17aecf.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Keter, 19, who trains with Cheruiyot under coach Bernard Ouma at the Rongai Athletics Club, has clearly adopted the front-running style of his mentor Cheruiyot.
He took the lead with 600m to go and attacked at the bell, stretching his advantage to some four metres down the back straight, and holding the lead to the finish line, stopping the clock in 3:37.24.
&ldquo;I used Timothy&rsquo;s tactics," he said.
&ldquo;He is a world champion and now I am a world champion.&rdquo;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Wegene Addisu came through to win the silver medal in 3:37.86 with his compatriot Melkeneh Azize claiming the bronze (3:40.22). Kenya&rsquo;a Kamar Etiang, third across the finish line after carrying a leg injury into the race, was disqualified for stepping inside the kerb on the bend during the race.
The East African dominance of the middle distance continued in the women&rsquo;s 800m final where Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ayal Dagnachew put on an exhibition, winning by more than a second in 2:02.96. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61210837bd4db24fea17aed2.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Roger Sedres)
 Switzerland&rsquo;s Valentina Rosamilia came through to claim the silver medal (2:04.29) from Greece&rsquo;s Elli Deligianni (2:04.66).
In the men&rsquo;s 800m semifinals, Kenyan athletes again prevailed. Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the first qualifying race comfortably in 1:46.16, more than a second ahead of Algeria&rsquo;s Mohamed Ali Gouaned (1:47.35) and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Daniel Wolde (1:47.53). In the second semifinal, another 17-year-old Kenyan Noah Kibet was fastest (1:46.47), holding of Czech runner Jakub Davidik (1:46.59, national U20 record) and Canadian Abduallah Hassan (1:46.89).
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

The African charge continued on the penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi as Botswana revealed more of the exciting sprinting talent it has coming down the pipeline.

Pesela puts on a show as part of African charge in Nairobi

For one proud race walking nation, this was proof their production line of talent is in full working order. For another nation, one long synonymous with endurance champions, it signalled a bright new dawn in a discipline where gold medals had once seemed a remote possibility.&nbsp;
At the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21&nbsp;on Saturday morning (21), Mexico&rsquo;s Sofia Ramos Rodriguez and Kenya&rsquo;s Heristone Wanyonyi etched their names into athletics history by taking the 10,000m race walk titles with a pair of commanding performances.&nbsp;
For Wanyonyi, this was a momentous victory &ndash; Kenya&rsquo;s first ever race walk medal at the championships, and while it was clear a long way out from the finish that drought was about to end, the 18-year-old fought with every fibre of his being to make sure it would do so with gold.&nbsp;
The race got off to a swift start with France&rsquo;s Dimitri Durand and authorised neutral athlete Dmitriy Gramachkov breaking clear of the field and passing 3000m in 12:59.92. Wanyonyi was biding his time in the pack at that point, but he led the chase and ensured the field was back together at the halfway mark, passed in 21:30.12 with Gramachkov out front. Durand and Wanyonyi traded the lead for a while before a strong move from India&rsquo;s Amit split the pack.&nbsp;
Coming into the last three laps, it was down to just Amit and Wanyonyi in the race for gold, and Amit led on the penultimate lap before surrendering the lead to Wanyonyi as the Indian moved out to grab water with just over 600 metres remaining. It was a lead Wanyonyi never relinquished, powering away over the final lap to hit the line in a PB of 42:10.84, with Amit taking silver in 42:17.94 and Spain&rsquo;s Paul McGrath winning bronze in 42:26.11.&nbsp; 
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 &ldquo;I was inspired by Dominic Ndigiti who won bronze for Kenya during the World U18 Championships (in 2017),&rdquo; said Wanyonyi. &ldquo;What he did opened the way for most of us who love race walking. Becoming a world champion is testament that Kenyan athletes are diverse. This victory is not only mine but for the country at large.&rdquo;
Amit was content with silver, having struggled with the cool conditions and thin air of Nairobi since his arrival earlier this week. &ldquo;At some point in the race I couldn&rsquo;t breathe properly but I am happy,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
McGrath&rsquo;s bronze capped a fine summer after already winning the European U20 title. &ldquo;By halfway I thought I could only make it to fourth or fifth place but the last two kilometres I had the strength to push further,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s race proved a far less competitive affair, but was defined by the individual brilliance of Sofia Ramos Rodriguez who became Mexico&rsquo;s fifth race walk champion in the event&rsquo;s history, with seven of Mexico&rsquo;s nine medals at the championships coming in the 10,000m race walks.&nbsp;
She coasted through the opening 3000m among a pack of eight but soon after she began to turn the screw on her rivals, surging to build a seven-second lead at halfway, which she reached in 23:28.88. That grew to 30 seconds by 6000m and almost a minute by 8000m, with Rodriguez hitting the line with 80 seconds to spare in 46:23.01. France&rsquo;s Maele Bire-Heslouis came through for silver in 47:43.87 with Czech Republic&rsquo;s Eliska Martinkova taking bronze in 47:46.28.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There is a lot of tradition in race walking in Mexico and I am very happy to continue with this,&rdquo; said Rodriguez. &ldquo;I&nbsp;have been working really hard.&nbsp;There are days where you don&rsquo;t feel like training but all these efforts have now been worth it. My next big event will be the Pan American U20 Games at the end of November and after that I will start getting ready for next season with the 2022 World Race Walking Team Championships.&rdquo;
After eight events in the decathlon, Belgium&rsquo;s Jente Hauttekeete holds a 50-point advantage over Czech Republic&rsquo;s Frantisek Doubek with 6816 to Doubek&rsquo;s 6766. Spain&rsquo;s Jose San Pastor is in third with 6299 points.
Hauttekeete started his day with a 13.95-second clocking in the 110m hurdles to extend his overnight lead and he followed up with a 41.47m effort in the discus and a 4.50m clearance in the pole vault. Doubek clocked 14.10 in the 110m hurdles, threw 45.64m in the discus and had a personal best of 4.80m in the pole vault.&nbsp;
In men&rsquo;s discus qualification, Lithuania&rsquo;s Mykolas Alekna produced the biggest throw of the morning, his 64.04m opener well beyond the automatic qualifying mark of 58.00m. Next best was Jamaica&rsquo;s Ralford Mullings with 62.49m, with Uladzislau Puchko of Belarus throwing 61.08m and Iran&rsquo;s Sadegh Samimishalamzari 61.01m.&nbsp;
Kenya displayed their growing sprinting strength in the heats of the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay, overpowering Jamaica down the home straight to advance as the quickest qualifiers for the final in 3:05.77. Nigeria won the first heat in 3:06.70 ahead of an inspired Ecuador, who clocked a national U20 record of 3:06.94 in second &ndash; third-leg runner Steeven Salas clocking the fastest split of the day with 45.85.&nbsp;
Poland produced a stunning effort in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m relay heats, their quartet of Dominik Luczynski, Patryk Krupa, Jakub Pietrusa and Oliwer Wdowik smashing the European U20 record to win in 38.93, taking 0.20 off the mark set by Germany in 2016. Jamaica was close behind in second with 39.00, while Nigeria clocked an African U20 record in third of 39.33. That record was equalled in the second heat by South Africa, who took victory ahead of Italy (39.56) and Greece (40.13).
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

For one proud race walking nation, this was proof their production line of talent is in full working order. For another nation, one long synonymous with endurance champions, it signalled a bright new dawn in a discipline.

Ramos Rodriguez and Wanyonyi make race walk history in Nairobi

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NAIROBI, Kenya, August 20 &ndash; Kenya maintained its winning streak thanks to Jackline Chepkoech, who won her third gold medal in the ongoing World Athletics Under-20 Championships at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani.
Kenya was only involved in one final as the competition entered Day three, the women's 3000m Steeplechase, which was won by Chepkoech, who completely annihilated the field to take gold in a Personal Best time of 9:27.40.
Chepkoech outpaced nearly 80% of the field, with compatriot Faith Cherotich taking bronze in 9:44.76, trailing Ethiopia's Zerfe Wondemagegn in 9:35.22.
Earlier, Amos Serem and Simon Koech stormed to the 3,000m steeplechase final on Sunday. Serem wowed the crowd with his confident run, staying behind Ethiopian Tadese Takele before teasing him to the finish line after passing him off at the home straight, while teammate Serem led from gun to tape before gliding home first in a time of eight minutes, 52.3 seconds to also book a spot in the final.
Purity Chepkirui and Winnie Jemutai of Kenya advanced to Saturday's 1500m final in the women's 1500m.
While Chepkirui stormed to victory in her heat, Jemutai barely held her own for second place. Jemutai finished second in 4:26.27, trailing Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji, who ran in 4:26.26.
&ldquo;I'm glad I qualified because that was the only goal for today. I felt fine, and my body appears to be in excellent condition. The focus is now on the final, where we hope to win something for Kenya,&rdquo; Jemutai said after the race.
For the majority of the race, Jemutai and Welteji clung to each other's necks, with Welteji leading and resisting any attempt on anyone who dared punch up ahead of her.
At the home straight, the Ethiopian was striding ahead with a good pace, while the Kenyan was just holding on for second place.
&nbsp;
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In the men's javelin throw, Finnish Janne L&auml;sp&auml; won gold over Ukrainian Artur Felfner, while Nigerian Chinecherem Nnamdi finished third and had to settle for silver.
In the men's pole vault final, Matvei Volkov of Belarus won gold ahead of Finnish Juho Alasaari, who took silver, and South African Kyle Rademeyer, who took bronze.
In the women's throw discus, Violetta Ignatyeva won gold as an Authorised Neutral Athlete, silver went to South African Min&eacute; De Klerk, and bronze went to Alina Nikitsenka of Belarus. In the women's triple jump, Swedish Maja Skag won gold ahead of Spanish Tessy Ebosele. Darja Sopova of Latvia finished second and took bronze.
Frenchman Erwan Konate won the men's long jump, Colombian Jhon Andres took silver, and Jamaican Kavian Kerr finished third. Kenya currently leads the medal standings with a total of six medals, including three gold, one silver, and two bronze.
Mercy Namachanja for World Athletics

Day Three of The World Athletics Under 20 Championships 2021 Nairobi

World Athletics opens window of hope for U20 refugee team

Tebogo and Onwuzurike set the pace for Africa’s new generation of sprinters

World U20 win caps superb season for record-breaker Kosonen

Wanyonyi and Amit lead new wave of race walking stars

World Athletics hails "highly successful" World U20 Championships in Nairobi