An exciting 4.35m pole vault victory for Hana Moll together with a series of swift women&rsquo;s 200m heats and the continuation of the women&rsquo;s heptathlon highlighted the fourth morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22&nbsp;on Thursday (4).&nbsp;
US U20 silver medallist Moll cleared 4.35m on her third attempt to capture her first international medal, as the 17-year-old succeeded at 4.20m at the first time of asking and 4.30m on the second attempt, before tackling 4.45m once victory was secured.&nbsp;
German duo Chiara Sistermann and Janna Sophie Ohrt claimed the silver and bronze medals with 4.30m clearances - outdoor lifetime best marks for the pair by 5cm and an impressive 20cm, respectively.&nbsp;
Eighteen-year-old Sistermann flew over the bar on the third attempt, as did 19-year-old Ohrt, while 2021 world U20 silver medallist Elise Russis of France finished fourth with 4.20m.
Moll&rsquo;s twin sister Amanda, who set a 4.51m world U18 best and area U20 record in March, finished fifth, also with a 4.20m clearance.&nbsp;
"It feels great. It was a good competition, I had a great time against everyone that was there. It was much better weather than the day prior," said Hana, with the final having been moved from Wednesday afternoon due to adverse conditions.
"I was building confidence in my vault my very first attempts. It was really tough and definitely challenged me. I'm really proud of what we both (she and Amanda) have accomplished this year." 
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<h2>Brahe-Pedersen leads 200m heats</h2>
The scene is now set for a superb three-way battle between the best of Jamaica and the USA in a mouth-watering women&rsquo;s 200m, as the half-lap heats kicked off in the expected swift fashion.&nbsp;
US pair Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Jayla Jamison clocked 23.25 (-0.1m/s) and&nbsp;23.36 (0.5m/s) respectively to progress to Thursday afternoon&rsquo;s semifinals, while Jamaica's Brianna Lyston registered 23.56 (-0.3m/s) to ignite her campaign.
Brahe-Pedersen &ndash; the 18-year-old 100m seventh-place finisher in Cali &ndash; and US champion Jamison will be hoping to claim the gold and silver medals in Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final but Lyston, with a superb 22.53 lifetime best this season, is aiming to upset their intentions with some silverware of her own.&nbsp;
Other notable qualifiers included Great Britain&rsquo;s Sophie Walton, who clocked a 23.40 (-0.1m/s) personal best, and Cuba&rsquo;s Yarima L. Garcia, also with a lifetime best mark of 23.46 (1.1mm/s). France&rsquo;s Serena Kouassi (23.46, 1.1m/s) and Jamaica&rsquo;s Alana Reid 23.47 (0.0m/s) will be among those to join them.
The women&rsquo;s heptathlon continued on day two with the long jump, as Finland&rsquo;s Saga Vanninen resumed her title defence with a 6.24m (-0.2m/s) leap to collect 924 points and accumulate a 4590 score. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62ec29c8d316636ba6271960.jpg" alt="Saga Vanninen in the heptathlon long jump in Cali" />
Saga Vanninen in the heptathlon long jump in Cali (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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The 19-year-old European U20 champion heads the German duo of Sandrina Sprengel and Serina Reidel, who currently sit in the silver and bronze medal positions with 4450 and 4428, respectively.&nbsp;
Eighteen-year-old Sprengel jumped 6.03m (1.1m/s), while Reidel, 19, registered a 6.30m (0.0m/s) season&rsquo;s best. Estonia&rsquo;s 17-year-old Liisa-Maria Lusti leapt 6.24m (-0.3m/s) to move into fourth place overall with a 4420 score.&nbsp;
The next event was the javelin and Vanninen extended her lead thanks to a superb 46.21m for 787 points, which moved her score up to 5377 from Sprengel&rsquo;s 5162 - the latter throwing 42.33m for 712 points.&nbsp;
Reidel held on to the bronze medal position with a 41.47m personal best for 696 points and a 5124 score, while Lusti remained in fourth with 4998, as Latvia&rsquo;s Gerda Kerija Dreimane ended the morning session in fifth place with a 4989 score.&nbsp;
<h2>Impressive starts for Hibbert, Girma and Strachan&nbsp;</h2>
Keen to upgrade his silver medal from Nairobi, Jaydon Hibbert launched his bid for triple jump glory with a 16.37m (-0.3m/s) qualification-leading mark ahead of Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
The 17-year-old Jamaican leads the world U20 list with his 16.66m lifetime best from earlier this year, and one other athlete exceeded 16 metres, with Ethan Olivier, 16, from New Zealand leaping a 16.04m (0.7m/s) national U20 record record to also assert his intentions for the final clash.&nbsp;
India&rsquo;s 17-year-old Selva P. Thirumaran jumped 15.99m (-0.4m/s), while Estonia&rsquo;s Viktor Morozov recorded a 15.98m (1.0m/s) personal best.
Others to proceed with lifetime best marks were Italy&rsquo;s Federico Morseletto (15.91m, -0.4m/s), the USA&rsquo;s Solomon Washington (15.85m, -0.1m/s) and Grigoris Nikolaou of Cyprus (15.84m, 1.3m/s). 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62ec2ad2503ab612b9e4bc10.jpg" alt="Jaydon Hibbert in triple jump qualification at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Jaydon Hibbert in triple jump qualification at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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After clocking an impressive 1:44.36 in May, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ermias Girma started his campaign for 800m victory with a 1:48.39 qualification time for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s semifinals.
The 17-year-old, who has already claimed 1500m silver in Cali, competed in the heats of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and will be joined in the next round by his compatriot Mersimoi Kasahun, 18, who clocked 1:48.54.
European U20 silver medallist Kacper Lewalski of Poland (1:48.59) will be looking to improve on his sixth-place finish in Nairobi, while others to move forward include Bader Alsweed of Kuwait (1:48.60) and Norway&rsquo;s Ole Jakob Solbu (1:48.78).
Last year&rsquo;s bronze medallist Noah Kibet of Kenya clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 1:44.89 in May before reaching the 800m semifinals in Oregon, and he ran an easy 1:51.37 to qualify.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Yesterday, I was feeling some pain in my leg, but today I did not feel anything," said Girma. "It was a bit of a difficult race but I think things are going to take a turn and start to feel better.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Keyshawn Strachan of The Bahamas unleashed a 76.87m throw to lead the men&rsquo;s javelin qualifiers for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final. The 18-year-old, who placed seventh in Nairobi, set a national U20 record of 79.89m in April and is eager to take the gold medal in Cali.
However, his closest challenger for victory and the pre-event favourite tag lies with Ukraine&rsquo;s Artur Felfner, 18, who registered 75.77m in qualifying.&nbsp;
The Nairobi silver medallist and European U20 champion reached a world U20-leading lifetime best of 84.32m earlier in the season and heads the entries by more than four metres.&nbsp;
Others to progress included Germany&rsquo;s Max Dehning (73.10m) and Hungary&rsquo;s Gyorgy Herczeg (72.63m), plus Eleftherios Kontonikolas of Cyprus (71.20m) and Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who recorded a 70.68m lifetime best to qualify.&nbsp;
Ahead of Sunday afternoon&rsquo;s final, the women&rsquo;s 1500m heats saw a host of comfortable qualifications, lead by Kenya&rsquo;s 18-year-old Brenda Chebet with 4:12.20.
Dilek Kocak of Turkey and Japan&rsquo;s Yuya Sawada both eclipsed their lifetime best marks with 4:14.90 and 4:15.29 respectively, while other names to move forward included Norway&rsquo;s European U20 champion Ingeborg Ostgard (4:16.36) and Ethiopian duo Birke Haylom and Mebriht Mekonen.
Haylom, 16, has a swift 4:02.25 personal best from May and clocked 4:18.06, as Mekonen, with a 4:03.29 best to her name, qualified with 4:18.97.
The champion in Nairobi and the African silver medallist this season, 19-year-old Purity Chepkirui, registered 4:19.94 to begin her metric mile title defence.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The fastest qualifiers for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles semifinals were led by Jamaican pair Alexis James and Kerrica Hill.&nbsp;
Eighteen-year-old James clocked a 13.03 (0.1.m/s) lifetime best, while Hill, 17, ran 13.30 (0.6m/s), the Nairobi 4x100m gold medallist and 100m seventh-place finisher having registered a fine 12.98 to win the national title this summer.&nbsp;
Other notable names to progress included Germany&rsquo;s Hawa Jalloh (13.20, 0.1m/s), USA&rsquo;s Jalaysiya Smith (13.42, 0.3m/s) and Jalloh&rsquo;s teammate Naomi Krebs with a 13.45 (0.1m/s) personal best.&nbsp;
Indonesia&rsquo;s Dina Aulia achieved a 13.44 (0.2m/s) national U20 record to also advance.
Nicola Sutton for World Athletics &nbsp;

World Athletics U20 Championships

USA's Hana Moll clears 4.35m to claim the world U20 crown

Moll wins pole vault gold on busy fourth morning in Cali

For a country that has long ruled the women&rsquo;s 100m at senior level, it seems almost unfair that Jamaica has such an enviable supply of talent still emerging in the teenage ranks. But at the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22&nbsp;on Wednesday (3), the world was put on notice that the future of women&rsquo;s sprinting could look a lot like its present &ndash; with yellow and green vests firmly to the fore.&nbsp;
Tina Clayton claimed her second straight world U20 100m title in a championship record and national U20 record of 10.95 (-0.1m/s), with her teammate Serena Cole &ndash; who&rsquo;s also her schoolmate at that factory of fast runners, Edwin Allen High School &ndash; taking silver in 11.14.&nbsp;
Back in third, though, USA showed it also has a young sprinter capable of becoming a senior champion, and it likely won&rsquo;t be long before Shawnti Jackson &ndash; the daughter of 2005 world 400m hurdles champion Bershawn &ndash; no longer has that piece of information mentioned alongside her name. The 17-year-old clocked a PB of 11.15 to take bronze and it was later confirmed that N&rsquo;Ketia Seedo of the Netherlands would also claim a medal, matching that time &ndash; a national U20 record &ndash; to finish joint third.
Clayton got a flying start and, from there, the result was never in doubt, the 17-year-old putting open daylight between her and her rivals, staying low to the ground through the opening half before getting into full stride and zooming away to gold.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Coming out, my mindset wasn&rsquo;t about a personal best or championship record, it was to defend my title,&rdquo; said Clayton. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel any pressure. I have all the confidence that I put in the work and I trusted my coach (Michael Dyke).&rdquo; 
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 Clayton&rsquo;s twin sister Tia will be in action over 200m over the coming days and they will join Cole for the 4x100m relay, where the ratified world U20 record of 42.94 that Jamaica ran in last year&rsquo;s world U20 final looks on borrowed time. &ldquo;We will take that record,&rdquo; said Tina.&nbsp;
As for what she hopes to achieve in the future?&nbsp;
&ldquo;Just to go out there, do my best, make some money and make my family proud.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<h2>Hurdles drama</h2>
Elsewhere, there was a dramatic finish in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles where Matthew Sophia of the Netherlands saw gold slip away in cruel fashion after the final barrier, with Antoine Andrews of Bahamas powering through to victory in 13.23 (0.2m/s).&nbsp;
Sophia had overcome an error at the first and fifth barriers &ndash; the latter a severe one &ndash; to lead the race approaching the 10th hurdle, but he ran right into that with his lead leg, causing a huge stumble that put a stop to his momentum. Andrews blew by him to grab gold, with USA&rsquo;s Malik Mixon taking silver in a PB of 13.27. Australia&rsquo;s Mitchell Lightfoot took fourth in a PB of 13.48 with Enzo Diessl fifth in an Austrian U20 record of 13.54. &nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm just overwhelmed right now, I'm at a loss for words,&rdquo; said Andrews. &ldquo;It's a dream come true. I came here from ups and downs, battling with injuries and mental blocks.&rdquo;
Sophia wasn&rsquo;t downbeat about his bronze, despite how close he came to gold. &ldquo;The final was a bad act to the execution, I lost balance at the end, but I'm so glad to come third,&rdquo; he said.
The women&rsquo;s 800m produced a thrilling showdown between USA&rsquo;s Roisin Willis and Switzerland&rsquo;s Audrey Werro, with Willis winning in a championship record of 1:59.13 ahead of Werro&rsquo;s 1:59.53, a national U20 record.&nbsp; 
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 Willis &ndash; whose mother Breda Dennehy-Willis was a 5000m Olympian for Ireland in the Sydney Olympics &ndash; did it the hard way, towing the field through the opening lap in a swift 59.41 and trying to fend off every challenge that came her way.&nbsp;
She had contenders queuing up in her slipstream down the back straight, with Werro edging in front as they hit 600m in 1:29.50. Werro then went for broke, drawing a couple of metres clear and she looked to be headed for gold but, as it turned out, Willis had something left, powering past in the home straight to take gold.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t really expecting to take it out that first lap, but I trusted what I did in the semifinal and just kept going,&rdquo; said Willis, who will soon be college teammates with bronze medallist Juliette Whittaker of USA at Stanford University. &ldquo;The only thought in my head was, &lsquo;don&rsquo;t give up,&rsquo; and I knew if I was in second coming into the home stretch, I&rsquo;d give it everything I have. I stuck to my promise.&rdquo;
When it comes to the men&rsquo;s 1500m final, meanwhile, it appears Kenya has a new star and his name is one we&rsquo;re used to seeing up front at senior level: Cheruiyot. With a vicious home-straight kick, Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot left his rivals trailing, clocking 3:35.83 to announce his ability to the world, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ermias Girma second in 3:37.24 and Kenya&rsquo;s Daniel Kimaiyo third in 3:37.43.&nbsp; 
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 Kimaiyo had thrown caution to the wind early in the race, ensuring it would be a fast one, passing 400m in 55.65, which is also known as sub-3:30 pace. They slowed on the second lap, passing 800m in 1:55.93, and Adihana Kasaye of Ethiopia swept to the front with a little over a lap to run. Cheruiyot attacked on the back straight and Kasaye held him off, but in the home straight Cheruiyot kicked it into overdrive and said a swift adios to his rivals, drawing a whopping 1.4 seconds clear&nbsp; &ndash; demonstrating the kind of kick that could take him an awfully long way at senior level.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The race was so fine for me today, I could have handled any challenge,&rdquo; said Cheruiyot. &ldquo;I'm feeling so proud.&rdquo;
<h2>Sralla celebrates success</h2>
In the women&rsquo;s discus, Emma Sralla of Sweden sealed victory with a dominant display, one that was surpassed only by her superb celebration. The 17-year-old&rsquo;s second-round effort of 54.94m was enough to take gold, but she extended that to 56.15m in the fourth round, which left her well clear of silver medallist&nbsp;Despoina Areti&nbsp;Filippidou of Greece, who threw 54.48m.&nbsp;
Once victory was confirmed, Sralla grabbed the Swedish flag and set off on a euphoric sprint around the turn before dropping to the ground, overcome with emotion. Bronze went to South Africa&rsquo;s Mine de Klerk, who added to her shot put gold in Cali with a national U20 record of 53.54m. Just behind in fourth was USA&rsquo;s Siniru Iheoma with 53.15m. 
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 After day one of the heptathlon, Finland&rsquo;s Saga Vanninen is well on track to retain the title she won in Nairobi last year, racking up 3666 points, 28 points above what she had after the first day in last year&rsquo;s final. Vanninen started off with a PB of 13.52 in the 100m hurdles, then cleared 1.72m in the high jump, threw 14.18m in the shot put and clocked 24.49 in the 200m. In second overnight is&nbsp;Germany&rsquo;s Sandrina Sprengel&nbsp;on&nbsp;3591, while&nbsp;Luna Goureau of France sits third on&nbsp;3577.
In the men&rsquo;s 200m semifinals,&nbsp;Botswana's sprint star Letsile Tebogo picked up where he left off in this morning&rsquo;s heats &ndash; when the 19-year-old set a championship record of 19.99 (0.4m/s) &ndash; and won in 20.23 (-1.2m/s) ahead of Turkey&rsquo;s Anthony Smith, who set a national U20 record of 20.83. The fastest in the semifinals was Israel&rsquo;s Blessing Akawasi Afrifah, who set a national U20 record of 20.17 (-0.2m/s) to advance ahead of South Africa&rsquo;s Benjamin Richardson (20.39). The third semifinal went to Jamaica&rsquo;s Bryan Levell in a PB of 20.34 (0.1m/s) ahead of Australia&rsquo;s Calab Law who clocked a PB of 20.42. USA&rsquo;s Brandon Miller (20.57) and Britain&rsquo;s Jeriel Quainoo (20.43) advanced on time.&nbsp;
USA was firmly to the fore in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles semifinals, with Akala Garrett edging Sweden&rsquo;s Hanna Karlsson to win the first semifinal, 57.28 to 57.34, both setting PBs, while USA&rsquo;s Michaela Rose claimed victory in the last semifinal in 57.83 ahead of Poland&rsquo;s Wiktoria Oko (58.28) The second semifinal went to South Africa&rsquo;s Anje Nel, who clocked 57.76 ahead of Michelle Smith of Virgin Islands, who set a national U20 record of 57.83. Italians Alessia Seramondi (58.07) and Ludovica Cavo (57.78) also advanced as non-automatic qualifiers.&nbsp;
Britain&rsquo;s Yemi Mary John was the quickest in the women&rsquo;s 400m semifinals, clocking a PB of 51.72 to advance ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Damaris Mutunga (52.29). The second semifinal went to India&rsquo;s Rupal in a PB of 52.27 ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Dejanea Oakley (52.29), with Norway&rsquo;s Henriette Jaeger advancing in third with her national U20 record of 52.33 and Australia&rsquo;s Ellie Beer also going through in 52.55. Spain&rsquo;s Berta Segura won the last semifinal in 52.51 from South Africa&rsquo;s Precious Molepo (53.28).&nbsp;
Jamaica&rsquo;s Delano Kennedy was the quickest semifinal winner in the men&rsquo;s 400m, clocking a PB of 45.49 ahead of USA&rsquo;s Steven McElroy (45.67). South Africa&rsquo;s Lythe Pillay was ultra-impressive in winning his semifinal in 45.61 ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Shaemar Uter (45.96). Botswana&rsquo;s Busang Collen Kebinatshipi also took victory in 45.91 ahead of Joshua Atkinson, who clocked a Thai U20 record of 46.13 to march into the final.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Tina Clayton runs a championship record and national U20 record of 10.95 ahead of her teammate Serena Cole

Clayton leads Jamaican 1-2, retaining world U20 100m title in Cali

A scintillating 19.99 (0.4m/s) 200m championship record for Letsile Tebogo just hours after his world U20 record-breaking 100m victory highlighted the third morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 on Wednesday (3).&nbsp;
The 19-year-old from Botswana claimed the 200m silver medal at the 2021 World U20 Championships in Nairobi and few would bet against him capturing the half lap gold medal on Thursday evening.&nbsp;
"It&rsquo;s all part of the plan, you never know how the weather will be in the afternoon but you just go for it when it permits,"&nbsp;Tebogo said of his record-breaking time. "I wasn&rsquo;t on social media last night, I just went to the hotel and slept. I did not celebrate - we&rsquo;ll celebrate after we&rsquo;re done with every competition because we do not want to be distracted by all this.
"Anything is possible at 200m when you look at the times. I don&rsquo;t know what the others will do but I could go for the gold, I could go for the silver - you&rsquo;ll see the best of me in the final.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Behind him, 17-year-old Blessing Akawasi Afrifah of Israel clocked a 20.37 (-0.3m/s) national U20 record a year on from finishing seventh in Nairobi, while Great Britain&rsquo;s 19-year-old Jeriel Quainoo &ndash; a European U20 4x100m gold medallist &ndash; was timed at 20.56 (-0.3m/s). 
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 The youngest of the 70-strong field at 16, Thailand&rsquo;s Puripol Boonson, ran 20.68, having earlier in the season recorded 20.19 to become the third-fastest U18 200m sprinter in history behind only Erriyon Knighton and Usain Bolt. He was also returning to the track following his fourth-place finish in the 100m in Cali.
Other notable qualifiers included Australia&rsquo;s Calab Law, a semifinalist from the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, with 20.72, plus South African duo Bradley Oliphant and Benjamin Richardson, the 100m bronze medallist in Cali.
The USA&rsquo;s Brandon Miller also progressed with 20.79 as a total of 15 men went under 21 seconds.&nbsp;
<h2 dir="ltr">Close heptathlon battle building after two events&nbsp;</h2>
The heptathlon got under way with Saga Vanninen igniting her title defence with a bang with a fine 13.52 (-1.3m/s) lifetime best in the 100m hurdles.&nbsp;
The 19-year-old from Finland is aiming to become the first two-time world U20 heptathlon champion since Carolina Kluft achieved the feat 20 years ago, and the European U20 gold medalist will have her own 6271 national record in her sights in Cali.&nbsp;
France&rsquo;s Luna Goureau also recorded a&nbsp;13.39 (-1.3m/s) personal best for the quickest mark of all, and others to impress included Spain&rsquo;s Sofia Cosculluela, who ran a 13.74 (-0.3m/s) lifetime best, and Sandrina Sprengel of Germany, with a 13.94 (-1.3m/s) personal best. Seventeen-year-old Liisa-Maria Lusti of Estonia registered 13.95.&nbsp; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62eac3ec1324c93aae08f4e0.jpg" alt="Luna Goureau and defending champion Saga Vanninen in the heptathlon 100m hurdles in Cali" />
Luna Goureau and defending champion Saga Vanninen in the heptathlon 100m hurdles in Cali (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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The second event arrived an hour later with the high jump and it was Sprengel who emerged the overall event leader, following a fine 1.81m lifetime best to collect 991 points to move from fourth place into the gold medal spot, with a 1978 score.&nbsp;
Lusti herself progressed from fifth to second place overall after a 1.78m leap and 1938 score, while Vanninen dropped from second to third with a best of 1.72m for 1926 points.
Great Britain&rsquo;s 17-year-old Eloise Hind equalled her 1.78m personal best to move up from eighth into fourth with 1920, as the USA&rsquo;s JaiCieonna Gero-Holt&nbsp; &ndash; only fifteen years of age &ndash; collected 1029 points with 1.81m to swiftly rise through the ranks from 20th to fifth with a 1903 score.
The two men&rsquo;s 3000m heats were both a considerably swift affair, both won in under eight minutes, as Kenya&rsquo;s 17-year-old Edwin Kimosong Kisalsak led the fastest qualifiers for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final with 7:55.60.
The 5000m bronze medallist in Cali on Monday evening, Habtom Samuel of Eritrea, clocked a 7:56.70 season&rsquo;s best - the 18-year-old looking to improve on his 3000m bronze medal from Nairobi.&nbsp;
Among those joining them in the final include Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diriba Girma (7:57.16), 5000m fifth-place finisher in Cali Rogers Kibet of Uganda (7:57.18) and Felix Kiptarus Korir of Kenya (7:58.12).
Eighth in Nairobi, Dan Kibet of Uganda registered 7:59.71 to progress, as did Japan&rsquo;s Keita Sato with a 8:00.17 season&rsquo;s best and Nairobi 1500m bronze medallist Melkeneh Azize of Ethiopia (8:00.37). 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62eac4851324c93aae08f4e3.jpg" alt="Edwin Kimosong Kisalsak wins his 3000m heat at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Edwin Kimosong Kisalsak wins his 3000m heat at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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The fastest qualifiers in the three men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase heats were led by Ethiopia&rsquo;s 18-year-old Samuel Duguna, who sped to a 8:44.83 clocking ahead of Saturday&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
Kenya&rsquo;s Haron Kibet, 19, also progressed with 8:47.25, while Tomas Habarta recorded 8:47.36 - a Czech U20 record for the 19-year-old.
Fourth in Nairobi, Samuel Firewu of Ethiopia progressed with 8:49.27, as did 17-year-old Emmanuel Wafula of Kenya (8:49.57) and Uganda&rsquo;s Nairobi seventh-place finisher, Leonard Chemutai (8:51.09).&nbsp;
Morocco&rsquo;s world U20 leader with 8:19.63, Salaheddine Ben Yazide, qualified with a 8:50.70 run - the 19-year-old having finished 13th in his heat at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 last month.
<h2 dir="ltr">Home hope Linares through to long jump final</h2>
Spain&rsquo;s 18-year-old Evelyn Yankey jumped the farthest in the women&rsquo;s long jump qualification round for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final, with 6.34m (-0.2m/s).
Just 5cm separated the top five and close behind Yankey was Marta Amouhin Amani of Italy, the 17-year-old jumping 6.32m (0.7m/s), while Colombia&rsquo;s home hope Natalia Linares reached 6.31m (-0.7m/s) to also progress.&nbsp;
The 19-year-old local set a national U20 record of 6.68m in July and is a much-improved competitor from the one who placed 12th at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, so she will undoubtedly be one to watch with the home support.&nbsp;
Others to go through were Great Britain&rsquo;s Molly Palmer, the 18-year-old registering a 6.31m lifetime best, and Bulgaria&rsquo;s Plamena Mitkova, 17, with 6.29m.&nbsp;&nbsp;
"I&rsquo;m very happy, I didn&rsquo;t expect it," said Yankey. "It took me a while to get a good approach but I&rsquo;ve worked hard this year to get here, I still have a little more to go until the final, improve my marks and I want to give it my all during the final."
Linares said: "There was a little bit of pressure to start this competition as the second best in the world. Everyone looks at you and they are all waiting for you to come up with something amazing, but I felt so good with all the other athletes."
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62eac5201324c93aae08f4e6.jpg" alt="Colombia's Natalia Linares celebrates her qualification for the long jump final at the World U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Colombia's Natalia Linares celebrates her qualification for the long jump final at the World U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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Sixth in Nairobi but with a 68.04m national U20 record under her belt this summer, Italy's Rachele Mori will be looking to take the women&rsquo;s hammer throw title in Cali, and the 19-year-old only needed one throw to qualify for Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final - unleashing an impressive 64.83m in the opening round.&nbsp;
Germany&rsquo;s Jada Julien, 18, threw the second-farthest mark with 63.20m, as Mexico&rsquo;s 19-year-old Paola Bueno Calvillo registered a 63.14m national U20 record.&nbsp;
There was another national U20 record for Ecuador's Nereida Santa Cruz, who threw 62.37m, while others to move forward include Hungary&rsquo;s Jazmin Csatari (61.98m), Ireland&rsquo;s Nicola Tuthill (61.87m PB) and Audrey Jacobs of the Netherlands (61.81m).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Puerto Rico&rsquo;s 18-year-old Yan Manuel Vazquez clocked a 50.66 lifetime best to top the list of qualifiers for Thursday afternoon&rsquo;s 400m hurdles semifinals, while Nairobi fifth-place finisher, Matic Ian Gucek of Slovenia, was timed at 50.68.
Thanks to his 49.39 personal best to take the Jamaican title last month, Roshawn Clarke is the pre-race favourite and the 18-year-old clocked 50.71 to progress, in addition to Belgium&rsquo;s Mimoun Abdoul Wahab, who ran a 50.92 lifetime best.
Japan&rsquo;s Sojiro Moritaka (51.04), USA&rsquo;s Grant Wiiliams (51.12) and Great Britain&rsquo;s 17-year-old Onyekachukwu Okoh also continued their Cali campaign - the latter with a 51.13 personal best.&nbsp;
Turkey&rsquo;s Ismail Nezir, who lowered his best to 49.59 last month at the Mediterranean Games, ran 51.25 to also advance.
"I&rsquo;m feeling quite good about my performance," said Clarke. "It really helped to build my confidence more. Lane seven is one of the lanes I feel most comfortable in. The plan for the semis is to make the final as comfortable as possible.&rdquo;
Nicola Sutton for World Athletics

World U20 100m champion gets back on track to clock 19.99 championship record

Tebogo returns with blistering 200m and heptathlon begins on third morning in Cali 

We knew he was good. We just didn&rsquo;t know he was this good &ndash; a young sprinter of such rare and precocious quality that everyone watching had no choice after the race but to reach for comparisons with the greatest to ever do it.&nbsp;
At the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22&nbsp;on Tuesday (2), Letsile Tebogo of Botswana produced a truly jaw-dropping display of sprinting to smash his world U20 100m record and retain his title in 9.91 (0.8m/s), a peerless performance that had so many wondering &ndash; here and around the world &ndash; if they were looking at the next Usain Bolt.
Or perhaps the first Letsile Tebogo.&nbsp;
There were two reasons the 19-year-old drew such comparisons, even if they&rsquo;re so often as unfair as they are misguided: it was based on his astonishing athleticism, first and foremost, but also his mid-race antics.
After a bullet start, Tebogo left his rivals trailing, his long, fluid stride gobbling up the blue track as he powered away at a pace no U20 athlete &ndash; not even Bolt himself &ndash; has ever run. With 30 metres to go, it was already celebration time, and Tebogo raised his right hand and began wagging a finger at his nearest rival, Jamaica&rsquo;s Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, looking across at him &ndash; smiling &ndash; all the way to the finish.&nbsp;
Given all of that, surely he wouldn&rsquo;t trouble the world U20 record of 9.94 he&rsquo;d set at the recent World Championships in Oregon? Well, he could and he did, clocking 9.91 to come home clear of Nkrumie (10.02) and South Africa&rsquo;s Benjamin Richardson (10.12), with Thailand&rsquo;s Puripol Boonson denied a medal by just one thousandth of a second &ndash; clocking 10.12 in fourth.&nbsp;
The first question to Tebogo after: why the celebration?
&ldquo;The statement was to come out and enjoy the race,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If somebody took it as disrespect, I&rsquo;m really sorry. I saw the fans and (it was so) everybody watching at home can enjoy the race &ndash; to remind them a little bit about what Usain Bolt did back in the days. He&rsquo;s my idol &ndash; the person I look up to.&rdquo; 
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 Tebogo has never met the Jamaican but the world record-holder is certainly now aware of the young Botswanan, having tweeted about his race shortly after.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;d be a very great pleasure for me to meet him,&rdquo; said Tebogo, who is the latest among many world-class sprinters to emerge from Botswana in recent years. He said their rise is &ldquo;because of the discipline, the dedication&rdquo; among their athletes.&nbsp;
He had gone into the race knowing he was operating at a different level to his rivals.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I saw they were scared of me, but I was also scared of them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When the gun went off I had to make sure I made the best start of my life and it was the best start of my life. I didn&rsquo;t plan (the celebration) but as soon as my first step I knew the title was mine. I didn&rsquo;t worry about the time. I didn&rsquo;t look.&rdquo;
Asked what he could have run if he went all out, Tebogo said: &ldquo;9.80&rdquo;, which begged the question: why didn&rsquo;t he run all out?
&ldquo;We have more races to come, we didn&rsquo;t want to go that far,&rdquo; said Tebogo, who will enrol at the University of Oregon in the months ahead. &ldquo;But this is my year as a junior, we have to leave (the record) here for the next generation to come and break it.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<h2>Back-to-back wins for Konate, Vilagos and De Klerk</h2>
Elsewhere, another world U20 champion successfully defended his title in the men&rsquo;s long jump, where Erwan Konate of France took gold with a world U20 lead of 8.08m, which came in the fifth round. Cuba&rsquo;s Alejandro A. Parada took silver with 7.91m, while Brazil&rsquo;s Gabriel Luiz Boza took bronze with his sixth-round effort of 7.90m. USA&rsquo;s Curtis Williams set a PB of 7.86m to take fourth while, in fifth, Reece Ademola broke his Irish U20 record with 7.83m.&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s javelin, Serbia&rsquo;s Adriana Vilagos produced the most dominant performance of the week so far, unleashing a championship record of 63.52m to take gold. Silver went to the host nation, with Valentina Barrios delighting the Colombian crowd with her national U20 record of 57.84m. Bronze went to Uruguay&rsquo;s Manuela Rotundo, who showed her clutch mentality by moving into the medals in the final round with 55.11m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;To set a championship record and personal best are equally meaningful,&rdquo; said Vilagos, who also won the world U20 title in Nairobi last year. &ldquo;I really wanted to get close to my PB and I threw it two times, so I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;
South Africa&rsquo;s Mine de Klerk retained her world U20 title in the women&rsquo;s shot put, her third-round effort of 17.17m handing her victory ahead of Turkey&rsquo;s Pinar Akyol (16.84m), who won her second consecutive silver, and Poland&rsquo;s Zuzana Maslana, who took bronze with a PB of 16.06m.
&ldquo;I didn't have the best qualifying so I was a little bit nervous but once I threw the first shot all the nerves just rolled off my shoulders and I enjoyed it,&rdquo; said De Klerk, who is doubling this week with the discus. &ldquo;It wasn't the best opener, but I was still happy with it and I just wanted to improve on every throw, and that's what I did.&rdquo; 
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 The men&rsquo;s shot put final saw a riveting three-way showdown between USA&rsquo;s Tarik O&rsquo;Hagan, Jamaica&rsquo;s Kobe Lawrence and Germany&rsquo;s Tizian Noah Lauria, with O&rsquo;Hagan taking gold with a PB of 20.73m.
O&rsquo;Hagan seized command in round one with 20.30m, but Lawrence took over the lead in the second round with 20.36m before Lauria shot to the front in round four with 20.40m. But O&rsquo;Hagan struck right back, throwing 20.73m to place one hand on the gold. Lawrence improved to 20.58m in the fifth round to take silver, with Lauria consolidating bronze in the final round with an improvement to 20.55m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's one of the best feelings I've ever had,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Hagan. &ldquo;I've been waiting for this for the past four years. But the job's not done. I still have the hammer on Thursday so we'll see if I come out with two medals. That will be an even better feeling.&rdquo;
<h2>Emmanuel triumphs over 10 events</h2>
Meanwhile, the Netherlands looks to have another combined events star on its hands after a near-flawless two-day performance from&nbsp;Gabriel Emmanuel, who smashed the Dutch U20 record to take gold with 7860 points, adding 455 to his PB.&nbsp; 
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 Emmanuel shot into an 84-point lead over event favourite Jacob Thelander of Sweden on day one after setting PBs in the 100m (10.68), 400m (49.46) and long jump (7.30m) and he continued his dominance on day two, clocking a PB of 13.83 in the hurdles, throwing 47.46m in the discus and clearing 3.70m in the pole vault before throwing 54.89m in the javelin. That left him with 118 points to spare over Thelander heading into the 1500m and, given his PB was just 11 seconds slower than Thelander&rsquo;s, it seemed unlikely the Swede would overturn the deficit.&nbsp;
And so it proved. Emmanuel faded badly over the final 200m as the thin air of Cali left him breathless, but his 4:57.72 was less than five seconds down on Thelander&rsquo;s 4:52.92, giving him a 90-point overall winning margin. Thelander took silver with 7770 with fellow Swede Elliot Duvert taking bronze with a PB of 7622.&nbsp;
There was a thrilling finale to the mixed 4x400m as USA and India fought it out for gold on the final leg, with USA breaking its own championship record, clocking 3:17.69 to India&rsquo;s 3:17.76, an Asian U20 record. Jamaica took bronze with 3:19.98.&nbsp;
USA&rsquo;s first three athletes &ndash; Charlie Bartholomew, Madison Whyte and Will Sumner &ndash; ensured that anchor runner Kennedy Wade had a comfortable lead as she set off around the bend, but a blazing first 200m from India&rsquo;s anchor Rupal saw her run on Wade&rsquo;s shoulder around the final turn. Rupal tried to surge past in the home straight but Wade found something extra to hold on.&nbsp; 
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 The women&rsquo;s 800m semifinals proved as hard-fought as always, with only the top two from each race automatically advancing. Switzerland&rsquo;s Audrey Werro led from the front to win the first semifinal in 2:01.25 ahead of Slovenia&rsquo;s Veronika Sadek. The second semifinal saw Britain&rsquo;s Abigail Ives edge USA&rsquo;s Juliette Whittaker by two thousandths of a second in 2:01.92, with Kenya&rsquo;s Nelly Chepchirchir also advancing in third with 2:02.03. In the third semifinal USA&rsquo;s Roisin Willis made no mistake, leading all the way and kicking off the front to win in 2:02.49.
In the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles semifinals, gold medal favourite Matthew Sophia of the Netherlands had to endure some nervous moments after hitting multiple barriers, one of which caused a severe stumble, but he maintained his balance and composure brilliantly to come through and win in 13.43 (0.3m/s) ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Demario Prince, who set a PB of 13.58. Antoine Andrews of Bahamas was the quickest overall qualifier, winning his semifinal in 13.39 (0.3m/s), while Australia&rsquo;s Tayleb Willis was also victorious in 13.62.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Reigning champion retains world U20 title in style, as Erwan Konate, Adriana Vilagos and Mine de Klerk also become back-to-back winners

Tebogo runs 9.91 world U20 record to claim 100m crown in Cali

A thrilling men&rsquo;s decathlon continued towards the business end of the competition, while there were a plethora of exciting qualifications on both the track and infield during the second morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 on Tuesday (2).
Two national U20 records were set in the opening round of the women&rsquo;s 100m, Nigeria&rsquo;s Tima Seikeseye Godbless scorching to 11.09 (0.1m/s) and N&rsquo;Ketia Seedo of the Netherlands speeding to 11.16 (0.0m/s).
Eighteen-year-old Godbless &ndash; a bronze medal winner with the Nigerian 4x100m team at last year&rsquo;s World U20 Championships in Nairobi &ndash; caused a surprise by staking a strong claim for the global title up for grabs on Wednesday evening, while 19-year-old 2019 European U20 silver medallist Seedo is also now a potential medallist.
US champion Shawnti Jackson &ndash; the daughter of 2005 world 400m hurdles champion Bershawn Jackson &ndash; eased to an equal PB of 11.28 (-0.9m/s) and Great Britain&rsquo;s European U18 champion Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, 17, also registered her fastest time with 11.36 (0.0m/s).
Other notable names to impress include South Africa&rsquo;s 17-year-old Viwe Jingqi (11.36) and defending champion Tina Clayton of Jamaica. The 17-year-old Clayton dipped below 11 seconds last month, breaking the Jamaican U20 record with her world U20-leading time of 10.96 &ndash; a mark that puts her fifth on the world U20 all-time list, and she qualified with 11.38 in Cali.
Her teammate and fellow world 4x100m relay gold medallist from Nairobi, Serena Cole, clocked 11.39, while the USA&rsquo;s 16-year-old Mia Brahe-Pedersen was timed at 11.45.
Spain&rsquo;s Elena Guiu and Great Britain&rsquo;s European U20 champion Joy Eze also progressed with an 11.46 personal best and an 11.47 season&rsquo;s best, respectively.
&ldquo;I was scared then I walked on to the field and told myself &lsquo;what are you here for?&rsquo;,&rdquo; said Godbless. &ldquo;I relaxed and it paid off, as you can see.&rdquo;
<h2>Emmanuel maintains lead</h2>
In the sixth event of the decathlon, the 110m hurdles, Gabriel Emmanuel of the Netherlands extended his overall lead with an impressive 13.83 (0.7m/s) personal best in the first heat &ndash; the fourth of the competition so far for the 18-year-old &ndash; to amass 5273 points. That saw him enjoy a comfortable lead from pre-event favourite Jacob Thelander of Sweden. 
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Gabriel Emmanuel in action in the decathlon 110m hurdles in Cali (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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Nineteen-year-old Thelander clocked 14.83 (0.4m/s) in the fourth heat to take his points score to 5062, while Canada&rsquo;s Nate Paris, 18, equalled his best with 14.80 (0.4m/s) to hold on to the bronze medal position with 5019 points from Belgium&rsquo;s 18-year-old Elie Bacari, who recorded a 13.96 (0.1m/s) lifetime best in the same heat as Thelander.&nbsp;
Slovenia&rsquo;s 19-year-old Jan Duhovnik registered a 14.71 (0.4m/s) personal best to remain in fifth place with 4893 points, and Pol Ferrer of Spain, 19, stayed in sixth following a 14.68 (0.4m/s) lifetime best.
Next up for the multi-eventers was the discus throw and Emmanuel maintained his lead with a 47.46m effort over Thelander&rsquo;s 40.89m &ndash; the Dutch athlete accumulating 818 points to top his score up to 6091 with two events remaining, as Thelander remained in the silver medal position with a 5745 score.
Duhovnik, meanwhile, moved from fifth to third place overall after a 46.89m best effort to score 5699 so far, with Ferrer behind in 5598 after a 42.05m lifetime best. Paris maintained his fifth-place position with a 35.58m personal best to take him to 5594 points.
The eighth event of their 10 disciplines arrived with the pole vault to close the morning session, and Emmanuel&rsquo;s 3.70m clearance was enough to hold on to the gold medal position &ndash; 6626 points to Thelander&rsquo;s 6476 score, after a 4.40m lifetime best vault.
Thelander&rsquo;s compatriot, Elliot Duvert, 19, moved from sixth to third place with a 6438 score, following a fine 4.90m PB, which amassed 880 points, while Norway&rsquo;s Abraham Sandvin Vogelsang moved from seventh to fourth position after a 4.60m season&rsquo;s best leap to progress to 6346 points. Duhovnik meanwhile, slipped from the bronze medal spot to fifth with an equal personal best of 3.90m to collate a 6289 score.
<h2>From a hospital bed to the fastest one lap for Pillay</h2>
South Africa&rsquo;s 19-year-old Lythe Pillay was the fastest in the men&rsquo;s 400m heats ahead of Wednesday afternoon&rsquo;s semifinals. In a year in which he has suffered illness and injury, he ran a 46.02 season&rsquo;s best and was followed by Bahrain&rsquo;s Arab U20 Championships winner Yusuf Ali Abbas, who clocked 46.21.
&ldquo;It was a good race coming off covid and injury this year,&rdquo; said Pillay, who finished fourth in the 400m at last year&rsquo;s World U20 Championships. &ldquo;I got covid in February and was hospitalised for quite a while. I took two or three weeks off training completely, so I started doing light jogs but I was out of breath. At that point, it was two weeks until the national champs, so I had to do something to defend my national title, which luckily I was able to do.
&ldquo;Then two weeks later, my right quad strained during an event. Luckily, it was just a light strain &ndash; I&rsquo;m just thankful to have recovered. I went through this competition last year so I have a bit more experience and I know what to expect, how to control myself and prepare mentally.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e9924d57066c7771fdae82.jpg" alt="South Africa's Lythe Pillay at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
South Africa's Lythe Pillay at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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Other names to progress include Jamaica&rsquo;s 18-year-old Delano Kennedy with a 46.24 personal best and US champion Steven McElroy with 46.38.
Tadeas Placek of the Czech Republic recorded a 46.56 lifetime best and Spain&rsquo;s 18-year-old Angel Gonzalez was timed at 46.65. Jamaica&rsquo;s U20 champion Shaemar Uter ran 46.66, while others to move forward include Japan&rsquo;s Masataka Tomoda (46.68) and USA&rsquo;s Ashton Schwartzman (46.76).
European U20 silver medallist Juho Alasaari of Finland, who has progressed by 11 centimetres this year to 5.53m, was on the list of qualifiers for Thursday afternoon&rsquo;s pole vault final with a 5.20m clearance.
Also clearing the same height to progress were 19-year-old European U20 champion Anthony Ammirati of France, who went to seventh on the world U20 all-time list last year by vaulting a 5.72m lifetime best, plus the USA&rsquo;s Garrett Brown and Spain&rsquo;s Ander Martinez de Rituerto with a lifetime best.
Great Britain&rsquo;s European U20 silver medallist Yemi Mary John was the quickest qualifier for Wednesday afternoon&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s 400m semifinals with a 52.42 equal lifetime best, and there was a national U20 record for Spain&rsquo;s Berta Segura, the 19-year-old European 4x400m relay silver medallist clocking 52.50.
India&rsquo;s 17-year-old Rupal registered the same time in a separate heat, while her teammate Priya Habbathanahalli Mohan, a Nairobi mixed 4x400m bronze medallist, was timed at 52.56.
Others to progress include Kenya&rsquo;s 17-year-old Damaris Mutunga with a 52.60 lifetime best and Zenab Moussa Ali Mahamat of Bahrain, who clocked a 52.87 personal best.
More notable names to qualify were 18-year-old Mekenze Kelley of the USA, who crossed the line in 53.39, plus Canada&rsquo;s Nairobi sixth-place finisher Ella Clayton (53.69) and Dejanea Oakley of Jamaica (53.70).
<h2>Easy work in qualification for Raats and Cavo</h2>
South Africa&rsquo;s Brian Raats entered the high jump competition as the outstanding favourite courtesy of a fine 2.26m lifetime best this season and the 18-year-old came out on top in qualifying, with a 2.08m clearance enough to progress to Friday afternoon&rsquo;s final.
Among those joining him will be Italy&rsquo;s Edoardo Stronati, France&rsquo;s Martin Lefevre, Igor Kosolapov of Kazakstan, Jamaica&rsquo;s Brandon Pottinger, Po-Tin Yeh of Chinese Tapei and Bulgaria&rsquo;s Bozhidar Saraboyukov, who all also cleared 2.08m.
Italy&rsquo;s 17-year-old Mattia Furlani, the European U18 high jump and long jump champion, cleared 2.04m to also progress, a day after he qualified for the long jump final.
Italy&rsquo;s Ludivica Cavo was the sole athlete to eclipse the 58-second barrier in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, with the 18-year-old setting an impressive 57.77 lifetime best in the heats. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e992ad57066c7771fdae85.jpg" alt="Italy&rsquo;s Ludivica Cavo in the 400m hurdles heats at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Italy&rsquo;s Ludivica Cavo in the 400m hurdles heats at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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Nine other athletes went below the 59-second mark, with the Virgin Island&rsquo;s Michelle Smith the second-quickest with 58.35 for the 16-year-old, ahead of US champion Akala Garrett, 17, who clocked 58.40.
Other athletes to progress to Wednesday afternoon&rsquo;s semifinals include Garrett&rsquo;s compatriot Michaela Rose, the 19-year-old who juggles the event with the 800m discipline, and South Africa&rsquo;s Anje Nel.
Croatia&rsquo;s 17-year-old Klara Koscak, fifth in the heptathlon in Nairobi, registered a 58.84 national U20 record, while Australia&rsquo;s Isabella Guthrie and Japan&rsquo;s Moe Matsuoka also qualified with 58.89 and 58.90, respectively.
The fastest in the field with a 57.29 lifetime best this summer, Alessia Seramondi of Italy, ran 59.03 to continue her campaign in Cali.
The men&rsquo;s hammer throw qualification was led by Finland&rsquo;s 17-year-old Max Lampinen who unleashed a 75.32m effort, as Greece&rsquo;s Ioannis Korakidis, 19, also surpassed the 75-metre mark with 75.07m.
European U18 champion Iosif Kesidis of Cyprus registered a 74.99m personal best, the 16-year-old also reaching Thursday afternoon&rsquo;s final in the process.
Slovenia&rsquo;s Jan Embersic with 74.89m, Ayubkhon Fayozov of Uzbekistan with a 74.62m lifetime best and Hungary&rsquo;s Miklos Cseko with 74.07m also caught the eye.
Nicola Sutton for World Athletics

Nigeria's Tima Seikeseye Godbless is among the national U20 record-breakers in Cali, running 11.09 in the 100m heats

Qualifying action heats up and decathlon reaches crescendo on second morning in Cali

We have seen the future of distance running, and few will be surprised to learn that it comes from East Africa. On the opening afternoon of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22&nbsp;on Monday (1), the endurance superpowers showed their talent pipeline is still flowing as Ethiopia&rsquo;s Addisu Yihune took the men&rsquo;s 5000m title and Kenya&rsquo;s Betty Chelangat won the women&rsquo;s 3000m.&nbsp;
Yihune showed the vast range of gears synonymous with so many of his countrymen when powering to gold in the 5000m in 14:03.05, but Eritrea showed signs of a rising tide by taking silver and bronze through Merhawi Mebrahtu (14:03.33) and Habtom Samuel (14:03.67).&nbsp;
The race began at a relative jog, with 3000m reached in 8:45.57 &ndash; comically slow for athletes of this calibre. From there, things slowly started to heat up with pre-race favourite Yihune moving to the front and the fourth kilometre covered in a steady 2:45.27. The lead changed many times in the laps that followed and there were nine men in the front pack with just over a lap to run. But Yihune simply had too much for his rivals when every one of them went for broke in the last 200m, avenging his fourth-place finish in last year&rsquo;s world U20 5000m final in Nairobi.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I spent all that time preparing for this,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was 100% sure I would win.&rdquo; 
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 Yihune is coached by Tewodros Hailu, the husband of Ethiopian great Meseret Defar, and he said he was &ldquo;incredibly happy&rdquo; with the title, which is so often a predictor of senior success. &ldquo;The time doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was here to win.&rdquo;
Mebrahtu was equally delighted with silver, having finished fourth over 3000m and fifth over 5000m last year in Nairobi, while Samuel added his bronze to the one he won over 3000m last year in Nairobi. More importantly, it helped him forget his 17th-place finish over 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was so sad after and I wanted to come to Cali to get a medal,&rdquo; said Samuel, who trains with Mebrahtu in Asmara under coach Mechale Aberham. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy (for) my friend.&rdquo;
Earlier, in the women&rsquo;s 3000m, Kenya&rsquo;s Chelangat produced a powerful display to take the first gold medal of the championships, winning the women&rsquo;s 3000m with a killer kick on the back straight, moving away from her two pursuers: Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tsiyon Abebe and Kenya&rsquo;s Nancy Cherop.&nbsp;
Chelangat stayed strong all the way to the finish, crossing the line in 9:01.03 ahead of Abebe (9:03.85) and Cherop (9:05.98). After an army-style salute to the crowd, Chelangat dropped to her knees, raised her arms in celebration, then clasped them in thankful prayer.&nbsp;
But she was just as quick to rise to her feet and take off with her teammate for a lap of honour that looked almost as fast as her last 300m, the effort clearly not taking much out of her.&nbsp; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e8746b101074e0e10881e2.jpg" alt="Kenya's Betty Chelangat celebrates her 3000m win at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Kenya's Betty Chelangat celebrates her 3000m win at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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&ldquo;I train hard, and that&rsquo;s why I win,&rdquo; said Chelangat, who is based in Iten under the guidance of coach John Litei. &ldquo;I waited until three laps remaining, then I see that I have enough left. I thank God and also my coach.&rdquo;
As for what the future holds? &ldquo;I want to represent my country and run in the Olympic Games,&rdquo; she said.
Abebe was pleased with her silver, saying: &ldquo;This is the first time I've gotten to represent my country. Of course, I wanted to get gold, which didn't work out, but I am incredibly happy.&rdquo;&nbsp;Cherop paid tribute to her coach, Peter Bii, saying she was &ldquo;expecting to win the race&rdquo; but was content with bronze.&nbsp;
At the halfway stage of the decathlon, event favourite Jacob Thelander of Sweden is sitting in second place on 4192 points behind Gabriel Emmanuel of the Netherlands, who had a breakthrough day, setting personal bests in the 100m with 10.68 (0.3m/s), 400m (49.46) and long jump (7.30m), leaving him well on track to break his current PB of 7405. He also threw 15.09m in the shot put and cleared 2.02m in the high jump.&nbsp; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e87527101074e0e10881e5.jpg" alt="Dutch decathlete Gabriel Emmanuel in action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Dutch decathlete Gabriel Emmanuel in action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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Thelander opened his day with a 10.90 100m and a PB of 7.53m in the long jump, followed by a 12.53m shot put, 2.08m in the high jump and he closed it with 49.24 for 400m. Sitting in third overnight is Canada&rsquo;s Nate Paris on 4145. Britain&rsquo;s Sammy Ball is fourth with 4046, Slovenia&rsquo;s Jan Duhovnik is fifth on 4008 while Spain&rsquo;s Pol Ferrer is firmly in the medal hunt in sixth with 4003.
The mixed 4x400m heats saw the US quartet of Charlie Bartholomew, Madison Whyte, Will Summer and Kaylyn Brown ease to victory in a championship record of 3:18.65, with Jamaica not far behind with 3:19.74.
India set an Asian U20 record in winning the final heat in 3:19.62, while Botswana won the first heat in 3:29.28. Germany, Britain, Czech Republic and Poland will join them in the final.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e8767e2d28312e671034b7.jpg" alt="USA's Charlie Bartholomew, Madison Whyte, Will Summer and Kaylyn Brown celebrate their mixed 4x400m championship record" />
USA's Charlie Bartholomew, Madison Whyte, Will Summer and Kaylyn Brown celebrate their mixed 4x400m championship record (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
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In women&rsquo;s discus qualification, event favourite Emma Sralla of Sweden underlined her class with a throw of 54.51m &ndash; the only one to go over the automatic mark of 52.50m. Greece&rsquo;s Despoina Areti Filippidou was next best with 52.48m, while Britain&rsquo;s Zara Obamakinwa threw a PB of 51.99m to also march on. &ldquo;In high-pressure situations like this, you never fully know what's going to happen, so it was definitely a big relief when I saw I passed the qualifying round,&rdquo; said Sralla.
The big casualty was Jamaica&rsquo;s Cedricka Williams, a 56.21m thrower this year, who was eliminated with a best of 46.20m. South Africa&rsquo;s Mine de Klerk &ndash; who earlier in the day advanced to the shot put final &ndash; also qualified with 50.12m.
Matthew Sophia of the Netherlands looked ultra-impressive in the heats of the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, clocking 13.10 to win his heat &ndash; a race where a wind speed wasn&rsquo;t registered. &ldquo;I visualised the race and tried to run as good as possible,&rdquo; said Sophia. &ldquo;There could have been a few more improvements but all in all, it was a great race.&rdquo;
Antoine Andrews set a Bahamian U20 record of 13.36 (1.6m/s) to win his heat, while Australia&rsquo;s Tayleb Willis was also a heat winner in 13.67 (0.5m/s).&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s shot put qualification, three men threw over the automatic mark of 19.60m: Germany&rsquo;s Tizian Noah Laura (20.15m), Jamaica&rsquo;s Kobe Lawrence (19.85m) and USA&rsquo;s Tarik O&rsquo;Hagan, who set a PB of 19.65m. Jamaica&rsquo;s Christopher Young, a 20.20m thrower, was eliminated after a best of 18.13m.
US twins Hana and Amanda Moll both advanced with ease to the women&rsquo;s pole vault final with clearances at 4.05m and they could well win gold and silver in the final.&nbsp;France&rsquo;s Elise Russis and Germany&rsquo;s Chiara Sistermann, who on season&rsquo;s bests are closest to the US pair, both also advanced.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

We have seen the future of distance running.

Yihune and Chelangat get gold on action-packed first afternoon in Cali

A blistering men&rsquo;s 100m championship record together with a series of superb national records highlighted the first morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 on Monday (1).
As predicted, the star performer in the men&rsquo;s 100m, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, stamped his authority on the event, blasting to a 10.00 (-0.6m/s) championship record in his heat - signalling his intent for glittering glory in Cali.
Following a spectacular 9.94 world U20 record in the heats of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 a fortnight ago, the 19-year-old 100m victor and 200m silver medallist at the U20 event in Nairobi last year looks set to retain his title in the shorter distance in fine fashion. 
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He wasn&rsquo;t the only athlete to impress. Muhd Azeem Fahmi of Malaysia smashed his 10.28 lifetime best with a 10.09 (0.8m/s) surprise clocking to qualify second quickest - the 18-year-old breaking the national record in the process.
Elsewhere, 16-year-old Puripol Boonson of Thailand was timed at 10.20 (-0.9m/s), while Japan&rsquo;s Hiroki Yanagita, 18, ran 10.24 (0.8m/s) and Nairobi 4x100m relay silver medallist Sandrey Davison of Jamaica, 19, clocked 10.25 (1.7m/s).
&ldquo;This was my first time competing at world level. I&rsquo;m so excited and a bit nervous,&rdquo; said Fahmi. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so grateful I managed to do my best. My plan was just to qualify through the rounds for the final, but I did not expect to get the national record! From Malaysia, it actually takes three days to get here, but I&rsquo;m just so happy I arrived and was able to compete so well.&rdquo;
Other notable names to progress include Italy&rsquo;s 18-year-old Alessio Faggin, who ran a 10.25 (0.2m/s) personal best, and Nairobi silver medallist and 4x100m winner Benjamin Richardson of South Africa - the 18-year-old registering 10.33. And there was an Argentinian U20 record for 17-year-old Tomas Mondino, who registered 10.34. 
<h2>Cheruiyot inspired to follow in famous footsteps</h2>
Kenya&rsquo;s Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot made an impression in the men&rsquo;s 1500m to win his heat by over four seconds in 3:40.96 from Luxembourg&rsquo;s Vivien Henz (3:45.04), who has broken his lifetime best four times this year.
With a fine 3:34.02 PB set in Heusden, Belgium, earlier this month, the 18-year-old Cheruiyot finished a close fourth in the Kenyan Trials for July&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Oregon and judging by his current form, looks set to capture the metric mile gold in Cali.
His 17-year-old teammate Daniel Kimaiyo took the first heat with 3:42.69, having clocked a 3:36.09 personal best at the Kenyan Trials. Ethiopian pair Adihana Kasaye and Ermias Girma also qualified for Wednesday afternoon&rsquo;s final with 3:43.06 and 3:45.40, respectively. Kasaye, the 18-year-old African Championships bronze medallist, and 17-year-old Girma, a 1:44.36 800m runner, should join a thrilling battle for the medals.
&ldquo;The heat was good, I did not face any challenges,&rdquo; said Cheruiyot. &ldquo;It was just too slow and I wanted to feel smooth, so I pushed the pace. I love sharing the same name as Timothy Cheruiyot (the 2019 world 1500m champion and Olympic silver medallist from Kenya), that guy is a great inspiration.&rdquo;
Cuba&rsquo;s 18-year-old Alejandro Parada was an unexpected leader in the men&rsquo;s long jump qualification, courtesy of a 7.95m (0.1m/s) lifetime best, while European U18 high jump and long jump champion Mattia Furlani leapt 7.85m (0.8m/s).
Furlani needed just one jump to qualify for the final, as did defending champion Erwan Konate of France, who leapt 7.80m (0.8m/s), setting up an exciting head-to-head for the final. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e82b2d4c428ed25ff9d4ed.jpg" alt="Mattia Furlani and Erwan Konate at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Mattia Furlani and Erwan Konate at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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There was a national U20 record for Ireland&rsquo;s Reece Ademola, who reached 7.76m (-0.2), while the USA&rsquo;s world leader with 8.17m, Johnny Brackins, registered 7.69m (0.6m/s) to join them in Tuesday afternoon&rsquo;s final.
Having captured global javelin gold in 2021 at the age of 17, Serbia&rsquo;s Adriana Vilagos ignited her global title defence with a fine 58.87m to comfortably lead the women&rsquo;s javelin qualification round.
Holder of the world U18 best, the 18-year-old Vilagos has since thrown a national U20 record of 62.76m this year and has won eight of her 10 competitions this season.
Japan&rsquo;s U20 champion Momoko Tsuji registered 56.07m in the second round, while South Africa&rsquo;s McKyla van der Westhuizen, the African Championships silver medallist, reached 54.92m to take the third automatic qualification spot for Tuesday afternoon&rsquo;s final.
&ldquo;I was tired today,&rdquo; said Vilagos. &ldquo;It is a seven-hour difference between here and my country, so it&rsquo;s kind of weird. I am happy I could throw well on my first throw but technically, I didn&rsquo;t do well. I was not focused enough and I hope that tomorrow in the final, I will do better. If I get over 60m tomorrow, I will be happy.&rdquo;
<h2>Nasreddinova and&nbsp;De Klerk top shot qualification</h2>
Malika Nasreddinova of Uzbekistan unleashed a 16.13m lifetime best throw to lead the women&rsquo;s shot put qualification.
The 18-year-old improved her 15.55m best from May to assert her intentions ahead of tomorrow afternoon&rsquo;s final, while the pre-event favourite Mine de Klerk, the winner in Nairobi, began her title defence with a strong 16.11m display to lead the way in the group A qualification pool.
Having set an area U20 record of 17.55m in February, 19-year-old De Klerk leads the season top list with her 17.19m from April&rsquo;s Hayward Premiere at Hayward Field, and the Nairobi discus silver medallist is set to double up again in Cali. 
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 Meanwhile, Treneese Hamilton of Commonwealth of Dominica threw a 15.89m national U20 record and Turkey&rsquo;s 2021 world U20 silver medallist and 17.46m thrower Pinar Akyol registered 15.77m, the 18-year-old qualifying with the fourth-farthest throw of the morning.
The men&rsquo;s decathlon got off to a scintillating start with no less than 16 athletes setting personal bests in the opening 100m event.
The fastest of all was Canada&rsquo;s Nate Paris, 18, who scorched to 10.56 (0.9m/s) in the second heat to collect 961 points, as Belgium&rsquo;s Elie Bacari, 18, followed him home in a 10.69 lifetime best.
Spain&rsquo;s 19-year-old Pol Ferrer &ndash; who recently improved by more than 400 points to win the Spanish U20 title with 7623 &ndash; clocked a 10.76 personal best for 915 points, while decathlon favourite with 7823 points this season, Jacob Thelander, finished fourth in a 10.90 personal best, which in turn began the 19-year-old Swede&rsquo;s campaign with 883 points.
Elsewhere in the third heat, Gabriel Emmanuel of the Netherlands was timed at a 10.68 lifetime best ahead of Slovenia&rsquo;s Jan Duhovnik who ran a 10.91 best. And in the opening heat, Germany&rsquo;s Tyrel Prenz clocked a 11.14 personal best ahead of Norway&rsquo;s 7535 decathlete Abraham Sandvin Vogelsang, who ran a 11.25 lifetime best.
Barely an hour later, the decathletes returned to the stadium to tackle the long jump, as Thelander emerged the event leader after the second discipline courtesy of a superb 7.53m lifetime best (-0.9m/s) on his third attempt for 942 points. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e82c73df5243ee269dc12f.jpg" alt="Jacob Thelander in the decathlon long jump at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Jacob Thelander in the decathlon long jump at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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Duhovnik leapt a strong 7.34m (1.3m/s) personal best for 896 points, while Emmanuel registered a 7.30m (-0.6m/s) lifetime best in to collect 886 points and Sweden&rsquo;s Elliot Duvert jumped a 7.25m personal best to make his mark in the competition.
The third event for the decathletes during the first morning session was the shot put. With an impressive 15.09m effort, it was Emmanuel who emerged the overall leader at the end of the opening session with 2614 points.
With a 12.53m best, Thelander ended the morning in the silver medal position with 1464 points, whilst Duhobnik&rsquo;s 13.03m put leaves him in third with 2464 points.&nbsp;
Close behind, Ferrier sits in fourth with 2417, with Britain&rsquo;s 17-year-old Sammy Ball and Paris in fifth and sixth at 2391 and 2390 points, respectively.
Back on the track, Ethiopia&rsquo;s pre-race favourite Sembo Almayew asserted her dominance from the outset in taking the first heat of the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase by over 17 seconds.
The 17-year-old runner-up at the Paris Diamond League then finished fifth in the opening round in Oregon, and after her 9:52.65 opening display in Cali, few would bet against her capturing the world U20 title. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62e82d008638aafb0dec33a1.jpg" alt="Sembo Almayew in the 3000m steeplechase heats at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22" />
Sembo Almayew in the 3000m steeplechase heats at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
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Last year&rsquo;s world U20 bronze medallist Faith Cherotich of Kenya qualified quickest for Thursday afternoon&rsquo;s final with 9:38.18, taking the second heat ahead of Almayew&rsquo;s 17-year-old teammate Meseret Yeshaneh, who clocked 9:41.99.
Kenya&rsquo;s Pamela Kosgei clocked 10.09.89, while Loice Chekwemoi of Uganda was timed at a 10.10.82 personal best.
&ldquo;I arrived only yesterday after a really long travel experience, but I actually felt pretty good,&rdquo; said Almayew. &ldquo;It was a 36-hour journey from Ethiopia with two long stops, so we were pretty tired upon arrival. I also had a pretty nagging tooth pain all day, which was difficult. But thanks to God, I am feeling better today and feeling ready.&rdquo;
The top four fastest qualifiers for the women&rsquo;s 800m came from the third heat, with 18-year-old US champion Juliette Whittaker leading the way with a 2:04.92 win.
Turkey&rsquo;s 16-year-old Dilek Kocak clocked 2:05.37, while Australia&rsquo;s Hayley Kitching, 17, registered 2:05.48 ahead of Latvia&rsquo;s Invida Maurina, the 18-year-old running a 2:05.65 lifetime best to reach Tuesday afternoon&rsquo;s semifinals.
Other notable names to progress include Kenya&rsquo;s 19-year-old Nelly Chepchirchir (2:06.66), European U20 champion and 2:00.28 runner Audrey Werro of Switzerland (2:09.49), Britain&rsquo;s Abigail Ives (2:07.35), USA&rsquo;s Roisin Willis (2:09.68), Ksanet Alem of Ethiopia (2:05.77) and Slovenia&rsquo;s Veronika Sadek (2:07.10).
&ldquo;I felt pretty good. We went out a little faster than I was expecting,&rdquo; said Whittaker. &ldquo;I was looking around at the last 100m, so I didn't want to push it if I didn't need to. It's an incredible feeling to represent with the USA on my jersey, it has been a dream of mine for a while. So that was my main goal going into this year, I really wanted to make these world championships.&rdquo;
Nicola Sutton for World Athletics

World U20 record-holder Letsile Tebogo runs 10.00 in the 100m heats as Muhd Azeem Fahmi also impresses

Championship record for Tebogo and a series of national records, as action starts in Cali 

Heristone Wanyonyi and Purity Chepkirui will defend their titles at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 after winning their respective events at the two-day Kenyan U20 trials (1-2).
Wanyonyi, who won the world U20 title on home soil in Nairobi last year, was the first to make the team for Cali on the opening day of competition after clocking 43:16.1 in the men&rsquo;s 10,000m race walk. On the second day, it was Margaret Gati, who finished eighth at the global event in Kenya last year, who stopped the clock at 49:14.80 to win the women&rsquo;s event.
The women&rsquo;s 1500m built up to an exciting final lap as world U20 champion Chepkirui and Brenda Chebet battled for the win, well ahead of the rest of the field. Chebet led over the last two laps of the race, with Chepkirui moving up to settle behind her as they went past the bell.
&ldquo;This will be my last World U20 Championships and my aim will be to defend my title before moving to the senior category from next year,&rdquo; winner Chepkirui said. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62c06c806162263b7ad99b20.jpeg" alt=" Brenda Chebet and Purity Chepkirui race in the 1500m at the Kenyan U20 trials" />
Brenda Chebet and Purity Chepkirui race in the 1500m at the Kenyan U20 trials (&copy; Barnaba Korir)
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The women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase field was stretched early into a single file by Faith Cherotich, the 2021 world U20 bronze medallist. She led the race all the way and won in 9:18.26, almost 100m ahead of her nearest challenger, Diana Chepkemoi.
&ldquo;I thank my coach Bernard Ronoh for the training,&rdquo; said Cherotich. &ldquo;The competition today did not feel tough, and that is why I decided to run alone at the front. The coach had advised me to apply speed in the last laps. I am going to target gold in Colombia.&rdquo;
There was an upset in the women&rsquo;s 400m as little-known Damaris Nduleve ran 53.70 to win, edging out Sylvia Chelangat, the 2021 world U20 silver medallist.
But the upset was greater for Benson Kiplagat. The 2021 world U20 champion had moved to the front with six laps to go in the men&rsquo;s 5000m final, but before long he suddenly slowed down before stepping off the track. Japan-based Samuel Kibati Wanjiru emerged victorious after sprinting away in the last 200m.
&ldquo;It is a dream to finish first and get an opportunity to represent my country in Cali,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know we can strategise well as Kenya, to defend our title at the World Championships.&rdquo;
After controlling much of the second half of the men&rsquo;s 1500m, Daniel Kimaiyo produced a devastating kick in the last 300m to win in 3:36.08. Daniel Koshen had been the first to lead before giving way to Kimaiyo to do more of the pacing duties with less than two laps to go.
"I was racing to get a good time, that is why I was not minding the rest of the field,&rdquo; said Kimaiyo, who is coached by 2007 world 800m champion Janeth Jepkosgei. &ldquo;Also, I wanted to make my training mates Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Levi Kibet proud. Before the race, they told me not to let them down.&rdquo;
Elkanah Chemelil was level with Sebastian Sinoti on the last bend of the men&rsquo;s 400m but extended his lead on the home stretch to win in 46.22.
The women&rsquo;s 3000m final was won by Betty Chelangat after a three-way battle with Joyline Chepkemoi &ndash; who began a surge with about four laps to go &ndash; and Nancy Cherop. Chelangat appeared to have reserved some energy for the last lap as she quickly extended her advantage in the last 200m before winning the race in 8:51.34. Cherop followed, while Chepkemoi finished third.
An emotional and almost tearful Chelangat said that she was happy to make the team and hopes to win gold in Cali.
In a competitive field that saw five runners together at the bell, Michael Temoi eventually strode away in the final 150m to win the men&rsquo;s 3000m in 7:50.
In a show of great raw talent, Nelly Jepchirchir established her name as one of the probable gold medal prospects for Kenya in Cali after she easily won the women's 800m in 2:02. Brian Kiptum claimed the men&rsquo;s two-lap title.
Emmanuel Wafula was another of the surprise winners as he took the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase in 8:32.10.
There was also a qualifier for the World U20 Championships in the field events. Winnie Chepngetich jumped 6.20m to secure her team place in the long jump, her success being attributed to a programme being carried out by Athletics Kenya to get more athletes in the sprints and field events. Chepngetich was among the young athletes who had gone to Miramas in France for training.
Justin Lagat for World Athletics 
<h2>Kenyan team for Cali&nbsp;</h2>
Women 400m: Sylvia Chelangat, Damaris Nduleve 800m: Evelyne Chepkoech, Nelly Jepchirchir 1500m: Brenda Chebet, Purity Chepkirui 3000m: Betty Chelangat, Nancy Cherop 5000m: Maurine Cherotich, Jane Gati 3000m steeplechase: Diana Chepkemoi, Faith Cherotich 10,000m race walk: Margaret Gati Long jump: Winnie Chepngetich&nbsp;
Men 400m: Elkanah Chemelil, Samuel Toili 800m: Noah Kibet, Brian Kiptum 1500m: Daniel Kimaiyo, Reynold Kipkorir 3000m: Edwin Kimosong, Michael Temoi 5000m: Samuel Kibathi, Shadrack Rono 3000m steeplechase: Peter Rono, Emmanuel Wafula 400m hurdles: Alocias Kipngetich, Peter Kithome 10,000m race walk: Heristone Wanyonyi

The Kenyan team for the World U20 Championships in Cali has been confirmed

Wanyonyi and Chepkirui to defend world U20 titles after Kenyan trials success

World U20 champion Tina Clayton ran a national U20 record to win the women's 100m title at the Jamaican U20 Championships&nbsp;in Kingston on Friday (24).
The 17-year-old registered her first sub-11-second clocking to supplant Briana Williams as the Jamaican U20 record-holder and climb to fifth on the world U20 all-time list after clocking 10.96 (1.0m/s).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling getting a new personal best,&rdquo; said Clayton, whose previous best was the 11.09 that landed her the world U20 title in Nairobi, Kenya, last year.
&ldquo;This just motivates me to continue training hard, be disciplined and listen to my coach.&rdquo;
In another thrilling final, as athletes target August's World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22, Sandrey Davison secured back-to-back domestic U20 titles when he made a strong rally through the last 40 metres to win the men&rsquo;s equivalent in 10.20 (0.7m/s), a personal best. 
&ldquo;I almost fell coming out of the blocks while trying to get my drive phase correct,&rdquo; said the world U20 4x100m silver medallist. &ldquo;But I regrouped quickly and told myself that I&rsquo;m going to finish strong and be victorious.&rdquo;
Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, who dominated most of the race before Davison overtook him at the finish line, registered a personal best of 10.22.&nbsp;
A confident Davison duly completed the sprint double two days later, running a lifetime best of 20.84 in the 200m (-0.1 m/s).
Kerrica Hill continued the impressive form she displayed at the Jamaican high school championships by establishing an U18 and U20 world lead in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final. In wet conditions, Hill was flawless in negotiating the barriers in a lifetime best of 12.98 (1.5m/s). 
&ldquo;I feel pretty good. I was not expecting the personal best because of the weather,&rdquo; said Hill. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been putting in the work and now I&rsquo;m focused on going to Cali and representing well.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Roshawn Clarke solidified his status as Jamaica&rsquo;s best one-lap hurdler when he blitzed the field to win the event in a lifetime best of 49.39. Despite the achievement, Clarke believes there is room for improvement. 
&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s race wasn&rsquo;t perfect, my execution could have been better,&rdquo; said the CARIFTA champion.
Clarke, who sits second on the world list, added: &ldquo;I was expecting a particular time, but I didn&rsquo;t get it, so I&rsquo;m not pleased about that, but I&rsquo;m still grateful for the PB and will work to get it right in Colombia.&rdquo;
Elsewhere, world U20 silver medallist Jaydon Hibbert opted to compete against the seniors in the men&rsquo;s triple jump. The 17-year-old maintained his unbeaten streak this season, bounding out to 16.41m (-1.2m/s) to win his first senior title.
In the discus ring, Cedricka Williams shattered the national U20 record in the women&rsquo;s discus after launching the implement out to 56.21m in the fourth round. Shanice Love had established the previous record (54.72m) in 2016.
Kobe Lawrence upstaged favourite Christopher Young to win the men&rsquo;s U20 discus throw with 62.67m, a personal best. Young, who was the world leader until March with 61.66m, produced his best effort of 58.47m in the final round to claim second.
Noel Francis for World Athletics

The world U20 champion moves to fifth on the world U20 all-time list

Clayton sets 10.96 Jamaican U20 100m record in Kingston 

A women&rsquo;s world U20 4x100m record and a gold medal treble by Adaejah Hodge highlighted the 49th edition of the Carifta Games in Kingston, Jamaica, from 16-18 April as athletes and fans passionately celebrated the return of the event after a two-year postponement.
The three-day event saw Jamaica maintain&nbsp;its Caribbean dominance on home soil, topping the medal table with 45 gold, 29 silver and 18 bronze medals. The Bahamas finished second with four gold, six silver and seven bronze medals, followed by the British Virgin Islands with four gold, two silver and one bronze.
Alongside the world U20 4x100m record of 42.58 set by Jamaica's Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston and Tia Clayton, there were several other exceptional performances from the next generation of regional stars, sparking hope for a bright future.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, an annual visitor to the Games, gave the keynote address. Also in attendance were Jamaica&rsquo;s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who declared the Games open, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis and Mike Sands, President of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association, plus Sir Austin Sealy, founder of the Carifta Games, and Olivia Grange, Jamaica&rsquo;s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.
Joining them in watching the next generation of athletics stars were some of the sport&rsquo;s legends, including Jamaica&rsquo;s sprint greats Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
When <a href="https://twitter.com/CariftaTandF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CariftaTandF</a> is happening in your back yard, not even a <a href="https://twitter.com/usainbolt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usainbolt</a> can stay away 🇯🇲 The Jamaican sprint GOAT knows the importance of age-group championships in developing the future stars of athletics.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Carifta49?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Carifta49</a> <a href="https://t.co/sJWMCCXGlK">pic.twitter.com/sJWMCCXGlK</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1515761911182376969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
 It was clear from the 100m heats that there would be plenty of fireworks in the finals. However, an unlikely candidate &ndash; not from Jamaica &ndash; emerged and drew admiration from the appreciative crowd with a flawless display of sprinting. Hodge, representing the British Virgin Islands, kept winning and shaving chunks off her personal best times throughout the rounds.
In the U17 final she recorded a superb win in 11.29 (0.5m/s), just 0.02 off the Games record held by 2018 world U20 champion Briana Williams. This followed performances of 11.54 (-3.2m/s) in the heats and 11.44 (0.8m/s) in the semifinals.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was trying to break the 100m record because Briana Williams and I share birthdays and it would have been cool if both of us broke the Carifta record,&rdquo; said Hodge, who now holds her country&rsquo;s national U20 record.
"I've waited for this competition for so long," said the 16-year-old. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched the Carifta Games on TV and just wanted to come here and execute my races how I wanted and make myself and everybody proud, and the way my mom celebrated meant the world to me,&rdquo; added Hodge with notable joy.
In a moment of high drama, Hodge added the U17 long jump title to her achievements with her last attempt, leaping a wind-assisted 6.20m (4.1m/s). The long jump competition was taking place at the same time as the&nbsp;200m semifinals and Hodge capped an amazing weekend by completing a memorable sprint double and Games treble, storming to 23.42 (-3.0m/s) in the 200m final&nbsp;to cement her status as the most outstanding athlete of the Games and deservingly securing the Austin Sealy award.
&ldquo;My brain was scrambling, I was very&nbsp;worried about&nbsp;not being able to run or not being able to finish my jump,&rdquo; said the 16-year-old about the tension built between events. "Then I remembered to stay relaxed as it had happened to me before and I can get through this. The 200m final was amazing, I got off the curve really hard and continued to work on my stride down the straight and I&rsquo;m proud of how I finished the race after all the events I did this weekend.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625e77b7860eccdb05cd713f.jpg" alt="Adaejah Hodge receives the Austin Sealy award at the 49th Carifta Games in Kingston" />
Adaejah Hodge receives the Austin Sealy award at the 49th Carifta Games in Kingston (&copy; Athelstan Bellamy)
</div>
The decibel level from the expectant crowd went up several notches prior to the start of the highly anticipated U20 100m finals, and the Jamaicans did not disappoint. World U20 champion Tina Clayton collected another 100m title after edging her twin sister Tia - 11.22 to 11.30 (0.6m/s).
&ldquo;My start threw me off a bit, but I executed well during the rest of the race and I think I did fairly well,&rdquo; said Tina, who was competing at her first Carifta Games.
In the men&rsquo;s U20 final, De Andre Daley recovered from a sluggish start to finish with a flourish, posting a lifetime best of 10.23 (0.7m/s). His fleet-footed Jamaican teammate&nbsp;Bouwahghi&nbsp;Nkrumie (10.28) had looked the likely winner after detaching from the field with his trademark explosive start and led with 30 metres to go before Daley motored by and relegated him to the silver.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve realised, in recent times, that I&rsquo;m not getting the start that I want,&rdquo; said Daley. &ldquo;However, I tell myself if I&rsquo;m not better than the field at the start, I must be better than them at the finish.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Jamaica has a reputation for producing some of the fastest 4x100m relay times in the world, including world records. On Saturday (17), the quartet of Cole, Tina Clayton, Lyston and Tia Clayton &ndash; in that running order &ndash; triggered unrestrained celebrations inside the national stadium after they broke the women&rsquo;s world U20 4x100m&nbsp;record with a 42.58 run. It improved on the previous record of 42.94 also set by a Jamaican quartet last year at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This was the second world record for me,&rdquo; said Cole. &ldquo;However, this one felt different because it was in front of our supporters and the celebrations at the end made us feel great.&rdquo; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
Nothing quite like watching the next generation of Jamaica&rsquo;s women sprinters make 4x100m history on home soil, right <a href="https://twitter.com/realshellyannfp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realshellyannfp</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/princess_toya1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@princess_toya1</a>? 💛💚🖤<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Carifta49?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Carifta49</a> <a href="https://t.co/HDPiaywKpf">pic.twitter.com/HDPiaywKpf</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1515907644980146177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
 The world record was a tough act to follow, but the host nation&rsquo;s U20 men, sensing that they had to keep the festive atmosphere&nbsp;going, ran&nbsp;at full tilt to register a world-leading and Games record of 39.15. The victory also ensured that Jamaica captured all four age group sprint relays.
"We can go way faster, we have not yet gelled as a team, and we didn't get pushed today, but I'm happy and grateful with our performance," said lead-off runner&nbsp;Nkrumie.
The host country brought the broom out in the 4x400m relays, sweeping all contested finals by wide margins.
Jamaica maintained its stranglehold on the 400m, claiming all four U17 and U20 titles and achieving three 1-2 finishes. Delano Kennedy equalled his personal best of 46.66 in the men&rsquo;s U20 final, while in the women&rsquo;s equivalent Kaylia Kelly chopped more than a second off her previous best (53.46) by running 52.32.
&ldquo;I felt grateful performing in front of my home crowd,&rdquo; said Kelly. &ldquo;I was so happy for their support and I just went out there to do my best and I got a personal best.&rdquo;
Michelle Smith of the US Virgin Islands was another standout performer, who displayed her vast range, collecting two U17 gold medals in the 400m hurdles (58.61) and 800m (2:10.78) respectively and a silver in the 100m hurdles behind Jamaica&rsquo;s Bryana Davidson.
Guyana&rsquo;s Attoya Harvey (4:45.24) and Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Keeran Sriskandarajah (4:10.58) halted Jamaica&rsquo;s dominance in the middle distance events, winning the girls&rsquo; and boys&rsquo; U17 1500m finals respectively, with sweetly timed runs.&nbsp;
Elsewhere, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Aaron Antoine, who trailed on countback, produced a clutch performance to prevail in a fantastic duel with Jamaica&rsquo;s Florida-based Brandon Pottinger in the U20 high jump final, after clearing a personal best of 2.16m on his final attempt.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best competition I&rsquo;ve ever had in my life,&rdquo; said Antoine. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m thankful to the Jamaican crowd, who were very supportive and gave me the energy.&rdquo;
Jamaica&rsquo;s world U20 triple jump silver medallist Jaydon Hibbert set a Games record and bounded out to a wind-assisted 17.05m (2.8m/s) to add to his long jump (7.62m) success a day earlier. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625e77e3860eccdb05cd7142.jpg" alt="Jaydon Hibbert in the triple jump at the 49th edition of the Carifta Games in Kingston" />
Jaydon Hibbert in the triple jump at the 49th edition of the Carifta Games in Kingston (&copy; Athelstan Bellamy)
</div>
Keyshawn Strachan, a towering Bahamian who stands at 6ft 5 inches, set the tone on the opening day when he launched the javelin 79.89m to establish a world lead and championship record, eclipsing the previous mark of 78.28m held by Grenada&rsquo;s 2019 world champion Anderson Peters.
&ldquo;I came to this championship with a positive mindset,&rdquo; said Strachan. &ldquo;My goal since I started training in September last year was to come to Jamaica and break the record. My next goal is to win gold in Cali, Colombia.&rdquo;
His compatriot Dior-Rae Scott broke the championship record in the girls' U17 javelin, sending the spear out to 44.57m.
In the boys' U20 discus, Jamaica&rsquo;s Kobe Lawrence threw 60.77m to win gold, his second-best performance behind his 60.92m personal best. Lawrence also showed his prowess in the shot put, pushing the metal ball out to 20.02m for a Games record.&nbsp;
After its&nbsp;two-year postponement, World Athletics celebrated the return of the Carifta Games by <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/athletics-better-world/news/carifta-games-tree-planting-campaign-jamaica" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launching a campaign</a> to help plant 15,000 fruit trees in its honour in this year's host country of Jamaica. The campaign has seen World Athletics team up with One Tree Planted, a US-based donor-funded environmental NGO that plants one tree for every US dollar that is donated.
Participants can <a href="https://world-athletics-plants-trees.raisely.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donate as little as $2 through the contribution page</a> and during the event weekend contributions were raised for more than 2600 trees.
Noel Francis for World Athletics
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7147623" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

Adaejah Hodge also impresses with gold medal treble at the 49th edition of the Carifta Games in Kingston

Jamaican quartet breaks world U20 4x100m record at Carifta Games

The 111th staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys&rsquo; and Girls&rsquo; Athletics Championships (Champs) in Kingston, held from 5-9 April, was a tremendous success.
With the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 on the horizon, many athletes produced inspired performances as 11 records were broken and two equalled over the final two days of competition, including all the sprint hurdles across the four age groups in the girls&rsquo; section.
The event marked the return of spectators for the first time since 2019, following the global pandemic that began in 2020. And title sponsors GraceKennedy Limited pledged 88m Jamaican dollars (US$570,000) in sponsorship for this year&rsquo;s edition.
Kingston College and Edwin Allen High School were crowned winners after amassing 372 and 352 points respectively.
Leading the performances was 17-year-old Kerrica Hill of Hydel High, who completed the sprints/hurdles double. She won the 100m hurdles (76.2cm barriers) in a stunning world U18 best of 12.71 (0.8m/s). Earlier in the championships she won the 100m flat in 11.16 (1.2m/s) to equal the championship records in the girls&rsquo; class two category, moving to joint seventh on the world U18 all-time list.
&ldquo;I just came out here to show everyone what I can do as I have been training very hard with Brianna (Lyston) and Alana (Reid), who came second,&rdquo; said Hill, who finished seventh in the 100m and first in the 4x100m at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi last year.
&ldquo;I am very happy as this was my aim to get both records,&rdquo; added Hill. &ldquo;I hope to carry this form into the World U20 Championships.&rdquo;
The stage was set for an epic showdown in the 100m for girls aged 17-18 between the Clayton twins (Tina and Tia) and the returning Brianna Lyston of Hydel High. Lyston missed last year&rsquo;s edition due to the Jamaican high school transfer eligibility rule, which states athletes (below 12th grade) who switched schools during the year must sit out the next championship.
Lyston, who ran 11.14 in March, created an uproar with a scintillating semi-final victory in 11.28 (-1.6 m/s), where she defeated world U20 champion Tina Clayton, who looked unperturbed.
In a thrilling final, Lyston, who was sandwiched between the Clayton twins drawn in lanes four and lane six, got a decent start, although not as explosive as the one a few hours earlier. She held a slight advantage all the way through to the 70-metre mark, until the sheer power and determination of Tina Clayton propelled her past Lyston for a remarkable victory in 11.23 (-2.8 m/s). Lyston made sure she separated the twins at the finish, registering 11.26 for the silver with Tia taking bronze in 11.47.
&ldquo;It was a great final,&rdquo; said Tina. &ldquo;There was a lot of competition, but this is an energy-saving championship, so I held back in the semis knowing that I did not need to push hard to qualify. I gave it my all in the final and I&rsquo;m grateful for the win.&rdquo;
The Clayton twins joined Brandy Hall and Serena Cole to set a world U20 leading 43.28 in the 4x100m.
Lyston made amends when she battled a strong headwind to erase Simone Facey&rsquo;s 18-year-old championship record of 22.71 in the 200m. She stopped the clock at 22.53 (-2.2m/s) to move to second on this year&rsquo;s world U20 list.
&ldquo;I came here to break the record,&rdquo; said Lyston, whose winning time was just 0.03 shy of the Jamaican U20 record.
The ease with which Bryan Levell navigated the rounds of the boys' age 16-19 100m suggested he&rsquo;d be a clear winner of the title. Jeevan Newby of Kingston College almost pulled off a monumental upset in the final, but Levell came through in the last five metres to narrowly win in 10.25 (-0.6 m/s) ahead of Newby (10.26), with De Andre Daley claiming third in 10.33.
&ldquo;I was very confident coming into the final,&rdquo; said Levell, who went on to win the 200m to complete the sprint double. &ldquo;I did not get the perfect start, but I wasn&rsquo;t worried, I just executed my race and pulled through.
Roshawn Clarke of Camperdown High School broke the first record of the championships when he registered a world-U20-leading 49.50 to win the 400m hurdles for boys aged 16-19. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the win because I've been training very hard for it; however, my primary goal is the World U20 Championships where I have unfinished business,&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;I made a mistake in the semi-finals at the last championships in Nairobi where I failed to advance to the finals after easing down near the finish line, which allowed three athletes to go by me including one that dived. It was a tough learning experience.&rdquo;
All the 400m finals were memorable, but the one that took pride of place was the final for girls aged 17-18. Dejanea Oakley, representing Clarendon College, won in 51.81 and joined an elite group of athletes to dip below 52 seconds at these championships. Only record-holder Sonita Sutherland (51.13) and Olympic bronze medallist Shericka Jackson (51.60) have done it in this age group.
There were several double winners including the irrepressible J&rsquo;Voughn Blake, the captain of outgoing champions Jamaica College, who completed a gruelling schedule, first equalling the 800m record (1:48.58) two days after his 1500m triumph in 3:56.78. &ldquo;The 800m is my pet event,&rdquo; said Blake. &ldquo;I am happy that I can leave Champs with the record, which has been my goal since I started competing.&rdquo;
Elsewhere, 17-year-old world U20 triple jump silver medallist Jaydon Hibbert established a Champs record and world U20 lead in the event, when he bounded out to 16.66m (-0.2 m/s) on his first attempt, breaking the Jamaican U18 best and moving to fifth on the world U18 all-time list. &ldquo;The first round is usually my best round in the triple jump. I asked for the crowd support and they responded and I produced a personal best.&rdquo;
He showed his range by adding the long jump title after cutting the sand with a lifetime best and world-U20-leading 7.87m (1.2 m/s) on his final attempt, also equalling the national U18 best.
&ldquo;Many people doubted my abilities in the long jump,&rdquo; said Hibbert, who will be attending the University of Tennessee later this year. &ldquo;I came into the event to prove a point, but I was not expecting such a big performance.&rdquo;
Noel Francis for World Athletics

With World U20 Championships on the horizon, many athletes produced inspired performances 

Hill, Clayton, Lyston and Hibbert impress at Jamaican High School Championships

Colombia's women and Brazil's men rewrote the South American U23 4x100m records at the inaugural Pan American Junior (U23) Games, taking place in Cali's Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium &ndash; venue for next year's World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 &ndash; from 30 November to 4 December.
In a close battle with the Brazilian quartet on Thursday (2), the Colombian team of Maria Murillo, Natalia Linares, Shary Vallecilla and Laura Martinez produced a 43.59 win on home soil, going much faster than the 43.98 record set by a Brazilian team in 2007. With three athletes aged 17 or 18, the young squad looks poised to break the national senior mark of 43.03, set in 2004.
It was the third medal of the Games for Linares, a world U20 long jump finalist this past summer, as she ran to bronze in the 100m and clinched the long jump silver medal with her last attempt.
The relay win capped a glorious day for the host country. After two days waiting for their first continental title, South American U23 champion Jennifer Rodriguez brought the first gold with her high jump win. Supported by an energetic crowd, the 22-year-old equalled her personal best of 1.90m and had three good tries at 1.93m, just 1cm shy of the national record.
The Brazilian men&rsquo;s team was equally impressive in the sprint relay. Adrian Vieira, Lucas Vilar, 100m winner Erik Barbosa and Lucas Rodrigues remained composed throughout all the exchanges to stop the clock at 39.21, better than the 39.29 set by their teammates at the World U20 Championships in 2021. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61aa82867e5017badd3eeaa9.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Olympic sprinter Gabriela Anahi Suarez opened the golden path for Ecuador with an impressive 100m win in 11.32, over two tenths of second faster that her closest rival. She is favourite to complete the sprint double after setting a personal best of 23.10 against a head wind in the 200m heats and she also claimed 4x100m bronze.
Fresh from his world U20 silver medal, Mexico&rsquo;s Luis Aviles produced another impressive display in the 400m, leading from the start to win in 45.59. Cuba&rsquo;s Leonardo Castillo (45.79) and Venezuela&rsquo;s Javier Gomez (46.13) were pushed to their limits and were rewarded with personal bests.
It was Mexico&rsquo;s second gold medal on the same day, as it came minutes after Anahi Alvarez dominated the women's 1500m, winning by almost 10 seconds in 4:20.68.
Another standout performance came in the women&rsquo;s 400m, won by Fiordaliza Cofil (52.10) just 90 minutes after she advanced to the 200m final. Her closest rival, Martina Weil, lowered her Chilean record to 52.35 in her mother&rsquo;s homeland. She is the daughter of 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist and World Athletics vice president Ximena Restrepo.
South American U23 record-holder and Olympian Chayenne da Silva dominated the 400m hurdles in 55.97 to cement Brazil&rsquo;s lead in the medal table (seven gold medals). While 2018 world U20 silver medallist Maikel Vidal leapt 7.97m to win long jump gold, one of Cuba&rsquo;s six gold medals in the first three days of the competition.
Ecuador&rsquo;s Olympian and 2018 world U20 silver medallist David Hurtado was equally impressive in the 20,000m race walk, winning in 1:21:55.03 .
With two days of competition remaining, 10 countries have won at least one gold medal, with another seven having at least one athlete on the podium.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for World Athletics

Colombia's women and Brazil's men rewrote the South American U23 4x100m records at the inaugural Pan American Junior (U23) Games.

Super Cali goes ballistic, athletes are precocious

Hibbert springs triple jump stunner to win world U20 title in Cali

Jamaica storms to world U20 4x100m record in Cali

Serrano and Demir win 10,000m race walk titles on fifth morning in Cali

Afrifah amazes to pip Tebogo to 200m title, as Cherotich dominates in Cali