Blessing Akawasi Afrifah reacts to making the world U20 200m final in Nairobi (© Dan Vernon)
From the decathlon 110m hurdles through to the 200m finals, day four at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi is action-packed.
The morning session on Saturday (21) features both 10,000m race walk finals plus decathlon and qualification action, while the afternoon session includes the men's high jump, 110m hurdles, 1500m, 400m, 200m and decathlon 1500m, plus the women's 100m hurdles, hammer, shot put, 800m, 400m and 200m.
Here are (at least) five things to follow on day four.
Men’s 110m hurdles
Final: 4:15pm local time
Having broken the world U20 record in the semifinals, what can Sasha Zhoya do in the final? On Friday (20), the 19-year-old clocked 12.93 to take 0.06 off the record which had been set by his fellow Frenchman Wilhem Belocian in 2014 and equalled by Jamaica’s Damion Thomas in 2018.
Joining him in the final will be Colombia's John Paredes, who finished second behind Zhoya and was inspired to a PB of 13.46.
Women's hammer
Final: 4:10pm local time
Silja Kosonen was one of the 13 athletes who competed at the Olympic Games en route to the World U20 Championships and there the Finnish rising hammer star threw 70.49m to place 14th in qualifying. Throwing 73.43m in June, she broke the 16-year-old world U20 record.
Looking to challenge her will be French thrower Rose Loga who set a national U20 record of 71.09m in January.
Men’s 1500m
Final: 4:30pm local time
Kenya’s Kamar Etiang might have missed out on the Olympic Games but the 18-year-old has a big chance here to put that disappointment behind him by winning gold on home turf. Etiang ran superbly to finish second at the Kenyan Olympic Trials back in June, clocking 3:33.02, and while he hasn’t raced since, a reproduction of that level of form should be good enough for gold.
He’ll need to be at his best, however, given the presence of Ethiopian duo Melkeneh Azeze and Wegene Addisu, who have run 3:33.74 and 3:34.21 respectively this year.
Men's high jump
Final: 3:55pm local time
Jonathan Kapitolnik made history last month in Tallinn when he became Israel's first ever European U20 champion and now he will be looking to achieve a similar feat on the global stage. Second on that day was Poland’s Mateusz Kolodziejski and the pair will go head-to-head again in Nairobi as they top the entry list. Joining them on the medal hunt will be three 2.20m jumpers in Nigerian U20 record-holder Omamuyovwi Best Erhire, South African 17-year-old Brian Raats and authorised neutral athlete Matvey Tychinki.
200m
Women's final: 6:00pm. Men's final: 6:10pm
The women's final looks set to be fast. The day after winning 100m silver, Namibia's Olympic sixth-placer Beatrice Masilingi led Friday's semifinals with a championship record of 22.19. Her compatriot Christine Mboma, the Olympic silver medallist, and Nigeria's Favour Ofili won their heats in 22.41 and 22.37 respectively, their times so quick they would have been championship records had Masilingi not just improved the mark.
The men's race will see Nigeria's Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike go up against Botswana's recently-crowned 100m champion Letsile Tebogo, Denmark’s Tazana Kamanga-Dyrbak, Tarsis Orogot, who set a Ugandan U20 record of 20.37 in his semifinal, and Blessing Akawasi Afrifah, who becomes Israel's first world U20 sprint finalist since 2008.
