Roko Farkas celebrates his national U20 long jump record in Lima (© Enzo Santos Barreiro)
A Croatian U20 long jump record of 8.15m by Roko Farkas proved the highlight on the third morning of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 on Thursday (29).
That added a whopping 43cm to the 19-year-old's PB and made him an immediate favourite for gold in Friday's final, topping the list in qualification ahead of South Africa's Temoso Masikane, the only other man to surpass the automatic qualification mark of 7.75m when jumping 7.87m.
Elsewhere, Jamaica's Kerrica Hill led the way in the heats of the 100m hurdles, the defending world U20 champion clocking a crisp 13.18 (0.4m/s) to advance with ease.
"It isn't a pressure being the world champion," she said. "I just have fun and get through the rounds properly. Now I want to rest, refocus and come again later."
Australia's Delta Amidzovski made a swift turnaround from her long jump gold on Wednesday night to set a PB in her heat and take victory in 13.22. There were also wins for Mia Wild of Croatia (13.26), Jocelyn Loreta Echazabal of Cuba (13.36), Alina Kyshkina of Ukraine (13.37), Siiri Siirtola of Finland (13.43), Nonah Waldron of USA (13.55) and Luciana Zapata of Colombia (13.57).
USA's Ja’Kobe Tharp underlined his status as favourite for the 110m hurdles title with a commanding victory in his heat, his time of 13.23 (-1.6m/s) the quickest of all competitors.
"For the next stage, I'm going to improve my time," he said. "As the rounds go on, I will start executing better and better, and then we will just see what the time says."
China's Chen Yuanjiang (13.37), USA's Andre Korbmacher (13.40) and Britain's Daniel Goriola (13.41 ) also underlined their medal credentials with wins. Richard Hall of Jamaica (13.58), Rasmus Vehmaa of Finland (13.60), Oumar Doudai Abakar of Qatar (13.46) and Britain's Noah Hanson (13.46) were the other heat winners. Cuba's Yander L. Herrera was very nearly a casualty, comfortably in front in his heat before smashing a barrier late in the race and finishing fourth, his 13.79 enough to secure him the final time qualifier spot in the semifinals.
In the women's hammer qualification, China’s Zhang Jiale showed she remains the woman to beat, the 17-year-old leading the way into the final with a 65.73m effort in the second round. Next best was her chief rival for the world U20 title, Valentina Savva of Cyprus, who threw 65.61m. Nova Kienast of Germany was next best with a PB of 63.81m.
In the women's high jump qualification, favourite Angelina Topic of Serbia had no issues advancing, coasting over 1.77m, 1.80m and 1.83m at the first attempt and showing no signs of the injury sustained at the Paris Olympics. Reigning champion Karmen Bruus of Estonia also had a perfect card up to and including 1.83m to join her in the final.
After three events of the decathlon, Tomas Jarvinen of Czechia leads the way with 2576 points, the 18-year-old topping the standings in both the 100m (10.82) and long jump (7.66m) and throwing 13.54m in the shot put.
Hubert Troscianka of Poland sits second on 2505, his morning highlighted by a PB of 7.27m in the long jump, with Sweden’s Elias Kapell third on 2492 and his compatriot Leo Goransson fourth on 2424.
In the heats of the women's 200m, Adaejah Hodge showed no signs of fatigue from her 100m exploits in recent days, the silver medallist underlining her potential for gold by leading the qualifiers in 23.19. Australia's Torrie Lewis also looked composed when clocking 23.27 to win her heat, while there were also heat wins for USA's Taylor Snaer (23.48), Jamaica's Shanoya Mikalia Douglas (23.51), Switzerland's Lia Thalmann (24.23) and Australia’s Jessica Milat (23.29).
The heats of the men's 200m saw Australia's Gout Gout, who recently went viral online, announce his gold medal credentials by powering to victory in 20.77 (-0.5m/s). USA's Jaden Wiley was also hugely impressive, winning his heat in 20.93, while on a morning that was as cool as the thin air over Machu Picchu, Sweden's William Trulsson was the only other heat winner to dip below 21 seconds with 20.99. Britain's Jake Odey-Jordan was also impressive when winning in 21.02, as was 100m champion Bayanda Walaza of South Africa who coasted to victory in 21.16.
All the big contenders advanced from the women's 3000m heats, with Kenya's Mercy Chepkemoi taking victory in the first heat in 9:22.72 and her teammate Marion Jepngetich taking the second heat in 8:52.25.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
