The Kenyan team at the World Athletics U20 Championships opening ceremony in Nairobi (© Dan Vernon)
World Athletics U20 Championships action returns on Wednesday (18) as almost 1000 athletes representing more than 110 teams compete in Nairobi, Kenya.
Three titles – in the men’s 3000m, mixed 4x400m relay and women’s pole vault – are up for grabs on the first day of competition, while the scene will be set with a series of heats and qualification rounds, plus the first four disciplines in the heptathlon.
Here are five things to follow on day one.
Mixed 4x400m relay
Heats: 9:00am. Final: 5:15pm local time
Having proven a popular addition to U18 and senior championships in recent years, the mixed 4x400m will make its World U20 Championships debut in Nairobi, with both the heats and final on the opening day of competition.
The likes of Jamaica, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Poland should have enough depth to field competitive teams for all relays as well as the individual 400m events, with Jamaica and South Africa having claimed silver and bronze respectively at the 2017 World U18 Championships, also held in Nairobi.
Men’s 3000m
Final: 5:45pm local time
A new event on the men’s side at this championships which should, if form is reliable, come down to a Kenyan and Ethiopian battle for supremacy. It’s the latter which appears to have the strongest hand, with 19-year-old Tadese Worku already an established performer at senior level.
The Kenyan duo of Benard Kibet Yegon and Daniel Kinyanjui should also mount a strong challenge.
Women’s pole vault
Final: 4:00pm local time
Having recently claimed European U20 silver to go with her medal of the same colour from the European U18 Championships in 2018, 19-year-old Emma Brentel of France will be looking to add a global medal to her collection and she leads the entries with her 4.30m PB clearance from June. Eight of the nine athletes on the entry list have all achieved their lifetime bests this year, including Canada’s Heather Abadie, who has cleared 4.25m both indoors and outdoors.
Heptathlon
100m hurdles: 9:25am, high jump: 10:15am, shot put: 4:05pm, 200m: 5:35pm local time
Finland’s European U20 champion Saga Vanninen could land her second major title in as many months when she lines up for the heptathlon in Nairobi.
Competition begins with the 100m hurdles and high jump on the first morning, before the shot put and 200m also on day one.
Estonia’s Pippi Lotta Enok and Vanninen’s teammate Neea Kayhko, who finished fifth and sixth respectively in Tallinn, should also be in medal contention in Nairobi.
100m
Women’s heats: 9:35am, semifinals: 4:10pm. Men’s heats: 10:20am, semifinals: 4:40pm local time
Although Jamaica's Briana Williams is the fastest U20 woman this year and double gold medallist in the 100m and 200m from the 2018 World U20 Championships in Tampere, she’s handed the baton to her compatriots Tina Clayton and Kerrica Hill who will be representing the Caribbean nation in Nairobi. They will find formidable competition in Bahamian sprinter Camille Rutherford, while Serbia’s European U20 silver medallist Ivana Ilic is also one to watch out for.
In the men’s event, Godson Brume and Favour Ashe will be hoping for a historic outing as they look to follow in the footsteps of Francis Obikwelu, who won the sprint double for Nigeria in 1996 and was the nation’s last champion in this discipline at the World U20 Championships.
Other contenders include South African U20 champion Benjamin Richardson, Botswana’s U20 record-holder Letsile Tebogo and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell.
