Indian javelin thrower Jay Kumar qualifies for the World U20 Championships final in Nairobi (© Dan Vernon)
There are finals in both the morning and afternoon sessions at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Friday (20) following the rescheduling of the men's pole vault and women's discus due to Thursday's weather.
The decathlon gets under way, while athletes will also compete for medals in the men's javelin, women's triple jump, men's hammer throw, men's long jump and women's 3000m steeplechase.
Here are five things to follow on day three.
Women's 3000m steeplechase
Final: 6:05pm local time
The growing strength of Ethiopian steeplechasing should once again be on full display here as Zerfe Wondemagegn heads the field, the 18-year-old holding a best of 9:16.41, which she ran to finish eighth in the Olympic final earlier this month.
She will take some stopping if showing up in the same form though Kenyan duo Jackline Chepkoech and Faith Cherotich should keep her on her toes.
Decathlon
100m: 9:00am, long jump: 9:40am, shot put: 10:50am, high jump: 3:17pm, 400m: 5:35pm
Like heptathlon winner Saga Vanninen, Jente Hauttekeete is also a newly crowned European U20 champion. He produced a lifetime best of 8150 in Tallinn, putting him fourth on the world U20 all-time list.
Frantisek Doubek of the Czech Republic would have been a medal contender in Tallinn, were it not for the fact he was disqualified from the decathlon 400m. Finland’s Ville Toivonen and Italy’s Alessandro Sion should also be in the battle for medals.
Men’s pole vault
Final: 10:05am local time
After the storm on Thursday forced the event's postponement, some of the world's best U20 pole vaulters will return to the Kasarani Stadium on Friday to compete for medals.
French vaulter Anthony Ammirati won at the European U20 Championships, clearing 5.64m to triumph in Tallinn, and will be hoping for more success here.
He achieved a national U20 record clearance of 5.72m in June and he tops the entry list by 12 centimetres. The top two from Tallinn both compete, with Ammirati joined by Belarusian 17-year-old Matvei Volkov, who set a world U18 best of 5.60m in February.
Women’s triple jump
Final: 2:25pm
Two days before her European U20 long jump success, Maja Askag leapt a Swedish U20 triple jump record of 14.05m (0.8m/s) to win the competition by 40cm. That’s also how much she leads the Nairobi entry list by, with the top three in Tallinn all competing again.
Like Askag, Spain’s Tessy Ebosele is also doubling up with the long jump in Nairobi and she set a PB of 13.54m indoors in February. Both Askag and Ebosele achieved the automatic qualifying mark (13.20m) to secure their places in the final.
Men’s javelin
Final: 2:20pm
Five years on from his world U20 title win, Neeraj Chopra became the Olympic champion, claiming India’s first ever Olympic athletics gold medal in Tokyo. The field in Nairobi includes two of the nation’s rising athletics stars - Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Jay Kumar - who will no doubt be among those left inspired by Chopra’s feat.
The world leader is Ukraine’s Artur Felfner, who launched the javelin 78.41m to win the European U20 title by more than five metres.
