WU20 Lima 24 preview: throws

The World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 will take place between 27-31 August, with more than 1700 athletes from 134 teams set to take part.

Here we take a look at the women’s and men’s jumps events at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.

 

Women’s shot put

Akaoma Odeluga and Gracelyn Leiseth look tough to beat in the women’s shot put and will surely have their sights on a US one-two in Lima.

Leiseth won the national U20 title ahead of Odeluga to complete a throws double in Eugene, one day on from her discus win. But it’s Odeluga who tops the shot put entry list with the PB of 18.13m she set to finish eighth at the US Olympic Team Trials and prior to that she threw 18.11m at the Southeastern Conference. Only one other U20 woman has surpassed 18 metres since 2015 and that’s world U20 leader Ashley Erasmus, who isn’t entered for Lima.

Leiseth is next on the entry list thanks to the 17.70m she threw in May. Joining them in the hunt for medals will be Australia’s Marley Raikiwasa, who threw 16.84m in May, and China’s Tian Xinyi, who set a PB of 16.35m in March.

 

Men’s shot put

Yannick Rolvink leads the entry list by more than a metre thanks to the Dutch U20 record of 21.81m he set with the 6kg implement on home soil last month. He also threw 20.46m to win the U20 event at the FBK Games and has surpassed 19 metres during seven other competitions this year.

Should he be near his top form then Rolvink looks on track for gold, but the battle for the other medals could be fierce. Ben Smith won the US U20 title with a PB of 20.57m and will hope to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan, who won the world U20 title in Cali in 2022.

German U20 champion Georg Harpf threw 20.61m indoors and followed that with 20.02m outdoors in May, while Rolvink’s teammate Jarno van Daalen and Finland’s Aatu Kangasniemi have respective bests of 20.40m and 20.50m.

 

Women’s discus

The top four women on the entry list have all surpassed 57 metres this season and lead the medal hunt in Lima. Canada’s Julia Tunks threw 62.07m in Ramona in May, improving on the PB of 59.84m she set there two months prior, and she has also thrown beyond 59 metres in four other competitions so far this year. 

Germany’s Curly Brown, China’s Huang Jingru and Australia’s Marley Raikiwasa – also a medal contender in the shot put – are also in PB form this year. European U20 champion Brown threw 57.66m in May, while Huang managed 57.52m in June and Raikiwasa – who is now based in the US at Auburn University and finished ninth in Cali in 2022 – threw 57.42m in May.

Gracelyn Leiseth, who set a PB of 54.72m to win the first part of a US U20 throws title double, will be hoping to do enough to again claim two medals.

 

Men’s discus

Ukraine’s Mykhailo Brudin returns to the world U20 stage, looking to build on the bronze he claimed in Cali two years ago.

Since that medal win, secured with a 63.30m throw, Brudin has become a European U20 champion and improved his PB with the 1.750kg implement to 66.58m when winning that continental title. His focus so far this year has been on throwing the senior implement, but he still managed 63.00m during the first of his two outings with the 1.750kg discus so far this year.

If the 19-year-old can get near his PB form then he will be the man to beat, but looking to challenge will be Jamaica’s Shaiquan Selbourne Dunn, who has thrown more than two metres farther than his rivals this season. His best is the 65.48m he threw to win at the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Kingston in March.

Among those looking to fight for podium places will be China’s Jiang Zehao and South Africa’s Juan Marais, who have both thrown beyond 63 metres this year, plus Australia’s Ethan Ayodele, who threw a PB of 62.92m in April.

 

Women’s hammer

China’s Zhang Jiale might only be 17 but she already sits third on the world U20 all-time list. And if in Lima she achieves a performance anywhere near the PB of 72.25m that put her there, she will challenge the championship record set by the world U20 record-holder, Silja Kosonen.

Kosonen set the world U20 record of 73.43m in 2021, the same year she won the world U20 title with that championship record of 71.64m. While Zhang has only surpassed that mark once in her career so far, she threw 67.33m at the Chinese Championships in June and won the Asian U20 title with 66.79m.

Only one of her opponents in Lima has a PB beyond that – European U20 champion Valentina Savva of Cyprus, who finished fifth at the 2021 World U20 Championships and fourth at the 2022 edition, and will be hoping to go at least one better to make it on to the podium this time. She set her PB of 67.87m in February.

Germany’s Johanna Marrwitz has a PB of 66.44m, while Hungary’s Villo Viszkeleti will also be on the hunt for a medal after her PB of 65.13m in June.

 

Men’s hammer

Two years on from his bronze medal win in Cali, Iosif Kesidis of Cyprus starts as favourite. The now 19-year-old threw 76.32m to get his medal in 2022 and already this year he has improved the national U20 record to 81.07m, also throwing 79.80m and 78.03m in his two other competitions with the 6kg implement.

His closest challengers look to be Hungary’s Armin Szabados and Georgios Papanastasiou of Greece, who have respectively thrown 77.90m and 77.77m this year. It was Papanastasiou’s compatriot Ioannis Korakidis who won with 79.11m in Cali, when Kesidis claimed bronze.

Aatu Kangasniemi – also a contender in the shot put – is the fourth athlete in the field to have surpassed 75 metres this season, his 75.78m PB having been set last month.

 

Women’s javelin

As the world U20 record-holder, China’s Yan Ziyi is the favourite for this title.

At the age of just 15, Yan threw 64.28m in Hangzhou in April to improve both the ratified world U20 record of 63.86m set by Cuba’s Yulenmis Aguilar in 2015 and the unratified 63.96m achieved by Elina Tzengko of Greece in 2020.

Now 16, Yan followed that mark with performances including 62.96m to win the Chinese U20 title and 63.51m to win at the Chinese Championships. The World U20 Championships record is the 63.52m Adriana Vilagos achieved at the last edition of the event in 2022.

Looking to join Yan on the podium will be Germany’s Mirja Lukas, who threw 58.70m last month, plus Finland’s Rebecca Nelimarkka (56.70m PB) and Asian U20 champion Chu Pin-Hsun of Chinese Taipei (56.66m PB).

 

Men’s javelin

The men’s javelin contest could come down to a battle between the 80-metre-plus throwers.

Slovenia’s Tom Tersek threw a national U20 record of 80.87m to win the Slovenian title at the end of June and the 17-year-old backed it up with 79.44m to win the national U20 title a couple of weeks later.

China’s Wang Xiaobo, on the other hand, set his own national U20 record of 80.61m last year and this year his best is the 76.84m he threw to finish third at the Chinese Championships – his last contest before Lima.

Chinese Taipei’s 17-year-old Huang Chao-Hong threw his PB of 76.31m last year and has a best of 74.90m in 2024, while Ukraine’s Illia Saievskyi will look to build on the 75.80m PB he set in May.

Jess Whittington for World Athletics