Jamaica's Alana Reid on her way to a win in the 100m (© Kermit Taylor)
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 sprint events at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
Women’s 100m
All eyes will be on Jamaica’s Alana Reid in the women’s 100m. With her national U20 record of 10.92, she is the only competitor in the field with a personal best under 11 seconds. Reid ran the lead-off leg for Jamaica’s 4x100m team at the Paris Olympics, placing fifth in the final. After earning 200m bronze at the 2022 World U20 Championships, Reid will have her sights set on 100m gold in Lima.
She will be tested by 16-year-old Thieanna Lee Terrelonge, another rising star from Jamaica. Terrelonge carries a PB of 11.13 from her victory at this year’s Jamaican U20 Championships (Reid competed in the senior championships). Australian record-holder Torrie Lewis could be well positioned to take the top podium spot, having run her 11.10 PB earlier this year and coming off representing her country in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Adaejah Hodge will also bring momentum from Paris with her into the competition. The sprinting sensation from the British Virgin Islands has a PB of 11.11, won both the 100m and 200m at her country’s senior national championships in June, and contested the 200m at the Olympics earlier this month.
Men’s 100m
A startling four athletes have broken 10.10 this season in the men’s 100m, led by Bradley Nkoana of South Africa. His personal best time of 10.03, achieved in Switzerland in July, is a national U20 record. Nkoana will arrive in Lima as the favourite after helping the South African 4x100m team set an African record of 37.57 to earn silver at the Olympic Games in Paris.
He Jinxian of China, Gary Card of Jamaica and Puripol Boonson of Thailand are among those who’ll be challenging Nkoana in Lima. China’s He ran a 10.06 national U20 record to take the title at this year’s Chinese Championships. 17-year-old Card ran a personal best of 10.07 to win the Jamaican U20 Championships in June, putting him second on the Jamaican U20 all-time list. Boonson is coming off a semi-finals appearance in Paris and will look to improve upon his season’s best of 10.08 from April; his personal best of 10.06 came in 2023 and tied the U18 world best.
Women’s 200m
Just as in the 100m, a Jamaican leads all competitors in the 200m: 16-year-old Shanoya Mikalia Douglas, who ran 22.59 to win the Jamaican U20 Championships in June. While that performance earned her the fastest season’s best of the competitors in Peru, she does not own the fastest personal best in the field. That honour belongs to Adaejah Hodge, who ran 22.33 indoors in 2023 and who will be doubling back in Lima after the 100m. Hodge will bring significant global senior experience to the event, having advanced to the semi-finals in the 200m at this year’s Olympic Games as well as at last year’s World Championships in Budapest.
Australia’s Torrie Lewis will also be doubling up in the 200m after first tackling the 100m in Lima. Lewis has a PB of 22.89 which she earned earlier this month at the Olympic Games. Expect a strong showing from USA’s Elise Cooper, who won her national U20 championships and then went on to run a PB of 22.71 in the semi-finals of the US Olympic Trials.
In addition to these four women, Viwe Jingqi of South Africa is the only other competitor in the field with a PB inside 23 seconds (22.96).
Men’s 200m
Another South African leads all entrants in the men’s 200m – Bayanda Walaza is in a league of his own with his personal best of 20.34. Walaza, who ran the opening leg for South Africa’s silver-medal winning and African-record-breaking 4x100m team in Paris, will also be contesting the 100m in Lima, but it is in the 200m where his title chances are likely strongest.
Other podium contenders include Poland’s two-time European U20 champion Marek Zakrzewski (PB 20.50); Italy’s Eduardo Longobardi, whose PB of 20.53 came just last month in his victory at the Italian U20 championships; and Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan (PB 20.55), who broke the British U20 indoor 200m record this year at the age of 16.
Women’s 400m
At the 2022 World U20 Championships, it took running under 52 seconds to make the podium in the women’s 400m. In 2024, there are three women in the field who have already broken 51 seconds this season.
Lurdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic boasts the fastest personal best with her national U20 record of 50.52, set in June at the European Championships in Rome. Manuel made it to the semi-finals of the 400m at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Nigeria’s Ella Onojuvwevwo owns a PB of 50.57 and will be looking to challenge Manuel for the win. Onojuvwevwo was part of Nigeria’s gold-medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the African Championships in June. Like Manuel, she made it to the semi-finals of the 400m in Paris.
Michaela Mouton of the US ran her PB of 50.96 in May and will be aiming to improve upon that if she hopes to come up with the win against Manuel and Onojuvwevwo. Her teammate Zaya Akins, who managed to best Mouton at the US U20 Championships, has a PB of 51.33 and is the final competitor in the field to have broken 52 seconds.
Men’s 400m
The sprinting strength of the South African men’s team is rounded out by Udeme Okon in the men’s 400m. Okon has notched personal bests in the 100m, 200m, and 400m in 2024, and he comes into the 400m in Lima with the field’s fastest personal best and season’s best (45.41). He will be looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Lythe Pillay, who won the 400m at the last World U20 Championships.
Okon will face multiple challengers in that attempt, most notably Jayden Davis of the United States. Davis was a member of the Arizona State University 4x400m relay team that won the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year. Though he has a slightly faster PB of 45.49, Davis placed second at the US U20 Championships to Sidi Njie. Njie will also feature in the race in Lima, and could be in the medal mix with his personal best of 45.62.
Ailixier Wumaier of China will be another one to watch, with season highlights including a PB of 45.53 from his win at the Asian U20 Championships as well as the 400m title from China’s senior national championships.
Jessi Gabriel for World Athletics
