Relay action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 (© Oscar Munoz Badilla)
Five days of World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 competition, featuring some 1700 athletes from more than 130 teams, will conclude on Saturday (31) when the final 13 titles will be won.
The session starts with the men’s discus and ends with the 4x400m relays. Here are three things to follow at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
Relays close the show
Four relays – the women’s and men’s 4x100m plus the women’s and men’s 4x400m – are all taking place on the fifth and final day of competition in Lima.
The Jamaican women’s 4x100m team is set to feature individual 100m champion Alana Reid, who ran the anchor leg in the heats, as they look to defend their title from Cali. In the men’s event, there will be a new champion as Japan was disqualified during the heats. Like in the women’s event, Jamaica was quickest in the men’s heats but should face a strong challenge from Thailand, anchored by 100m silver medallist Puripol Boonson, in the final.
In the 4x400m finals, Australia will be on the hunt for more medals to go with the mixed 4x400m gold won on day one.
Athletes ready to hit the heights
The women’s high jump will feature Estonia’s Karmen Bruus, who defends the title she won in Cali two years ago. After focusing on the high jump during the past couple of outdoor seasons, Bruus returned to combined events action this year and set a PB of 5013 points to win the Estonian U20 heptathlon title. Her high jump PB remains 1.96m, a mark that matched the world U18 best when she achieved it in Eugene in 2022.
But it’s Serbia’s Angelina Topic who tops the entry list with her season’s best of 1.98m, and the two-time senior European medallist, who claimed world U20 bronze behind Bruus in Cali, will be looking to rebound after qualifying for the Olympic final in Paris but being unable to compete through injury.
Both athletes cruised through qualification, clearing up to 1.83m with no faults.
WU20 Lima 24 jumps events preview
Middle-distance duels
Australia’s Cameron Myers could crown a strong season with the world U20 1500m title. He led qualification, winning his heat in 3:41.32, but to claim the title he will have to defeat Ethiopia’s Abdisa Fayisa, who tops the entries with the 3:32.37 he ran to win the Ethiopian Olympic Trials in June. Fayisa then competed at the Paris Olympics, finishing 14th in his 1500m heat and 10th in the repechage.
In the women’s 1500m final, Ethiopia’s Saron Berhe is the clear favourite. The 17-year-old won the African title in June and dipped under four minutes for the first time in April at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, clocking 3:59.21.
