The rising teenage star of Japanese sprinting and 2015 world U18 100m and 200m champion, who this past season improved his personal bests to 10.05 and 20.32, talks about the difficulty of overcoming a lack of training facilities during his high school years.
<h3>Accepting the ways things are</h3>
&ldquo;I grew up in Tokyo, which is massive city with a huge population. It is not always easy to find a training track within close proximity and that was the case for me as the nearest track I could train at was some 40-50 minutes away from my school. Not only that, but when I did try out for training at the track, it was often overcrowded with many other budding athletes opting to train there.
&ldquo;As you can imagine this scenario was not ideal. It limited our training methods and routines. I really needed good variety as part of my training programme, but this was hard to achieve.
&ldquo;My coach at the time was always a huge help in terms of keeping me motivated and on track. He researched many different types of training to improve me and help me mentally cope with the training difficulties.
&ldquo;It was also very difficult to train at school. The school grounds were only the size of about three tennis courts and some days when other sports used this area I did not have a place to train. I was sometimes forced to carry out my strides and exercises on the street.
&ldquo;This was understandably a difficult period for me, but I just kept telling myself it does not matter where I carry out my training or how I am being challenged, success comes down to the hard work and motivation to be faster. I did no see the training as strange or odd. That was just how it was!
&ldquo;As difficult and challenging as this was I look back on this period not thinking of this as a handicap. I simply trained so hard, it gave me confidence. However, today I fully appreciate the training environment I enjoy at the University of Florida. I am very thankful to have a nice 400m track for training.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

The rising teenage star of Japanese sprinting and 2015 world U18 100m and 200m champion, who this past season improved his personal bests to 10.05 and 20.32, talks about the difficulty of overcoming a lack of training facilities during his high school years.

My greatest challenge – Abdul Hakim Sani Brown

Double world U18 champion Hakim Sani Brown won the 100m and 200m at the 101st Japanese Championships, which concluded on Sunday (25) at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka.
The 18-year-old set personal bests of 10.05 (0.6m/s) in the 100m and 20.32 (0.3m/s) in the 200m. His mark in the shorter event equalled not only the Japanese U20 record, but also the championship record. It is also the fastest time in the world this year by an U20 athlete.
Sani Brown chopped 0.12 from his lifetime best to win his heat in a World Championships qualifying mark of 10.06, a time he then matched in the semifinals. The 100m final was held in heavy rain, and rising star Shuhei Tada, who was celebrating his 21st birthday that day, got off to a superb start. But Sani Brown passed Tada after about 60 metres and went on to win his first senior title in 10.05.
Tada was second in 10.16 and Olympic 4x100m silver medallist Aska Cambridge took third in 10.18. Cambridge&rsquo;s Rio relay teammates Yoshihide Kiryu and Ryota Yamagata finished fourth and sixth respectively in 10.26 and 10.39.
After reaching the 200m semifinals at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, Sani Brown had hoped to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but an injury prevented him from achieving that goal. Having graduated from high school in March, he is now training alongside a group of top Dutch sprinters under the tutelage of Rana Reider before enrolling with the University of Florida in August.
&ldquo;Even I&rsquo;m surprised,&rdquo; said Sani Brown. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know I could run like this. I hope I get the chance to compete against top sprinters and break the 10-second barrier.&rdquo;
One day after his 100m triumph, Sani Brown won the 200m in a PB of 20.32, narrowly missing the Asian U20 record by 0.03.
Kana Ichikawa took the women&rsquo;s 100m and 200m sprint double in 11.52 (0.2m/s) and 23.62 (-0.2m/s), defeating national record-holder Chisato Fukushima, who has dominated Japanese women&rsquo;s sprinting since 2008.
After representing Japan in the 4x400m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and at the 2014 World U20 Championships, where he took the silver medal, Takamasa Kitagawa will finally get the chance to represent Japan in an individual event at a global championship. The 20-year-old won the 400m in 45.76, having set a PB of 45.48 in the heats. Kentaro Sato was second in 45.95 while Kazushi Kimura was third in 46.02.
Although he won the continental title in 2011, 400m hurdler Takatoshi Abe had never won a national title until this year. He put that right this weekend, though, winning the one-lap event in 49.32 after setting a PB of 48.94 in the heats. Yusuke Ishida took second in 49.79 and Yuki Matsushita was third in 49.92.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t happy how I ran in Daegu and Moscow,&rdquo; said 2010 world U20 silver medallist Abe, who finally appears to be fulfilling his potential after representing Japan at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships. &ldquo;I want to make the podium in London.&rdquo;
The heats of the 110m hurdles witnessed surprising depth as nine men ran 13.70 or faster with Genta Masuno topping the round with a meeting record of 13.40, just 0.01 shy of the Japanese record. But Shunya Takayama was a clear winner of the final in 13.45, having set a PB of 13.44 in the semifinals. Olympian Wataru Yazawa was second in 13.61 while Masuno recorded the same time in third place.
Suguru Osako successfully defended his 10,000m title in 28:35.47 after covering the final lap within 60 seconds. The race started slowly with an opening kilometre of 2:55 and half way being reached in 14:29. When Takashi Ishida made a break with four laps remaining, Osako and Yuchiro Ueno were the only two athletes who were able to stick with him.
Ueno took the lead two laps later, but Osako made a move with 200 metres left and Ueno couldn&rsquo;t respond. Ueno was second in 28:37.34 and Ishida took third in 28:39.00.
Japan-based Kenyan Ann Mwangi won the women&rsquo;s 5000m in 15:19.62, but Rina Nabeshima, who crossed the finish line soon after in 15:19.87, was awarded the national title. Akari Ogasawara was the third Japanese runner to cross the line and the 16-year-old set a Japanese U18 record of 15:23.56, narrowly missing the World Championships qualifying standard of 15:22.
Ayako Oikawa for the IAAF

Double world U18 champion Hakim Sani Brown won the 100m and 200m at the 101st Japanese Championships, which concluded on Sunday (25) at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka.

Teen sensation Sani Brown secures sprint double at Japanese Championships

Ahead of the forthcoming IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017, we focus on the memories of athletes who have competed in past editions of the event. In the latest in our series, we catch up Japan&rsquo;s Hakim Sani Brown, who stormed to the 100m-200m sprint double at the 2015 edition in Cali, Colombia.
<h3>Before</h3>
There was a high expectation that Hakim Sani Brown could be one of the star performers at the 2015 World U18 Championships. Leading into the event, the 16-year-old sprint prodigy had been creating waves with a series of outstanding performances. Times of 10.30 for the 100m and 20.56 for the 200m marked him down as world No.1 in the U18 age group and pre-event favourite for both sprints.
Sani Brown himself struggles to explain why he was in such a rich vein of form that year, but he was looking forward to the challenge ahead.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t exactly know (why I was running so well) but one thing I know is that I always believed in myself and that means always giving my best,&rdquo; he says.
In terms of his expectation for Cali he adopted a simple philosophy.
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just do it! My aim was to stay focused and give my very best.&rdquo;
<h3>During</h3>
As soon as he arrived in Colombia with a quality Japanese team (which went on to win five medals and finish third in the overall medal table) Sani Brown was excited.
&ldquo;The street scene and cityscape in Cali was different and so was the weather and the people,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I come from a big crowded city in Tokyo so coming to Cali, a Latin American city, was filled with wonder.&rdquo;
With a rice-rich diet similar to what he was used to in his homeland he adapted seamlessly to the Colombian food culture and by the time he took to the blocks for his opening round heat of the 100m he said he was &ldquo;more excited than ever before.&rdquo;
He was right to feel excited. In his first round heat he equalled his PB and trimmed 0.01 from the championship record to 10.30 and then precisely matched this time in his semi-final &ndash; despite sprinting into a 1.2m/s headwind.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just focused on one event at a time and I still achieved my best despite the wind not being in my favour,&rdquo; Sani Brown adds.&nbsp;
As comfortably the quickest of the qualifiers he went into the 100m final as overwhelming favourite and did not disappoint. He held a clear advantage at 40m and simply accelerated clear of his age-group rivals to strike gold in a new PB and championship record of 10.28.
&ldquo;I felt really great when I crossed the finishing line and when I saw the time I was really pleased,&rdquo; adds Sani Brown, who was also inspired by the support he received from his team.
&ldquo;We all cheered as one team when someone was competing and we supported each other through the whole event,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When on the track, even though I was focused on the task ahead, I knew my team-mates were rooting for me and that gave me extra strength.&rdquo;
His next challenge was to prepare for the 200m &ndash; and become the first boy in ten years to complete the sprint double at these championships &ndash; but is was no straight forward task to switch his focus to the half-lap event.
&ldquo;The heats were tough (her ran 21.19 to win) on the body because I felt tired, but I had to have the confidence to continue to improve and achieve more.&rdquo;
Sani-Brown started to rediscover his rhythm with a 20.62 clocking in his semi-final to top the qualifiers for the medal race. There complete in snazzy green rimmed sunglasses the Japanese sprinter ate up the distance and stopped the clock in 20.34 &ndash; to set a new PB and lowering Usain Bolt&rsquo;s championship record by 0.06.
&ldquo;At first I couldn&rsquo;t believe it when I saw the time, I didn&rsquo;t know I could run that fast, he recalls. &ldquo;It gave me the belief I could possibly compete at the (2015) Beijing World Championships.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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<h3>After</h3>
Later celebrating his success with a family dinner back in Tokyo, Sani Brown has nothing but happy memories of the 2015 event.
&ldquo;The crowds were incredible, the competition was well run and the music was awesome,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was an amazing experience to compete overseas in a world-class event.
&ldquo;I experienced a lot at World Youths (U18) and since I have started to think about competing globally. You could say (competing in Cali) was a life-changing experience. It made me think deeply that I could build a career out of athletics.&rdquo;
The following month San Brown competed at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing where he reached the 200m semi-finals. Last year he lowered his 100m PB to 10.22 and earlier this year sped to a time of 10.18 in Azuza.
For anyone competing at the 2017 IAAF World U18 Championships Sani Brown has a simple message.
&ldquo;Enjoy the race, enjoy the crowd, enjoy the country and just have fun!&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

Ahead of the forthcoming IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017, we focus on the memories of athletes who have competed in past editions of the event. In the latest in our series, we catch up Japan’s Hakim Sani Brown, who stormed to the 100m-200m sprint double at the 2015 edition in Cali, Colombia.

World U18 memories – Hakim Sani Brown

Several world and Olympic champions met with the media in Monaco today on the eve of the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016. Here is a sampling of what some of them had to say.
<h3>Two-time Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha (KEN)&nbsp;</h3>
On whether any doubts lingered in his mind about successfully defending his Olympic title after suffering two stinging early season defeats:
It&rsquo;s always tough when you get beaten. Although those races &ndash; the IAAF World Challenge, the Diamond League&nbsp;&ndash; they&rsquo;re different than championship races and championships running. Championships create a lot of pressure. It&rsquo;s very hectic. You need a lot mental strength. That&rsquo;s I think a reason why some of the very good athletes don&rsquo;t get through to a final.
So since I&rsquo;m strong and experienced, and I know how to handle the pressure, the rounds, the heats, just running in control to secure a place in the final.
On his relationship with other 800m runners:
We are like colleagues, and mostly, even when meeting in hotels and in competition areas you&rsquo;ll see us hanging out together. We are very friendly with each other on the circuit.
On the impending retirement after 2017 of triple-triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt:
Usain Bolt is one of the greatest athletes of all time. What he has done for the sport has been really great.&nbsp; We will miss him very much. We also have other young and upcoming athletes who are coming up, who are good prospects. Usain Bolt is someone we won&rsquo;t see every time. But the future is very unpredictable. We might see another Bolt tomorrow. Or it might take a hundred years.
On his greatest ambitions:
There&rsquo;s still a lot to do. Usain Bolt has won consecutive triple gold at three consecutive Olympics. At 800 metres, nobody has won three consecutive Olympic titles. So that is a great motivation.
I&rsquo;m looking forward to 2020. I have a great feeling that if I stay injury-0free, have good health and strong training I feel I&rsquo;m still strong and good to go.
<h3>Olympic 10,000m champion and world record holder Almaz Ayana&nbsp;</h3>
On her first experiences and progression in athletics:
When I started running I began on the flat, not in the steeplechase, with the 5000. But when I came to Addis I was pressured to try the steeplechase. And I didn&rsquo;t like running the steeplechase at all. I was not very good for many years.&nbsp;
Then I switched to the events I like the most like the three (thousand) and five (thousand). I changed to what I wanted to run.
On her plans for 2017:
This year I broke the (10,000m) record, and next year I want to improve my performance in all events. And hopefully to run again for my country.
Her favorite event:
The 3000 is too short for me. In the 5000 I want to try and break the world record. For me now the 10,000 is my favourite event (laughs).
<h3>World 1500m champion and world record holder Genzebe Dibaba</h3>
On her pre-Olympic preparations this year:
I was determined, I was training well, indoor and outdoor. But a few months before Rio I became injured. Just to compete was not easy for me. So I&rsquo;m very happy with the silver medal in the 1500 metres. Just to be able to race was great for me.
On running indoors:
What&rsquo;s special for me about indoors is that we run the indoor season after we take a rest, so I&rsquo;m fresh. I&rsquo;m also good on the turns - I&rsquo;m very fast on the curve, so that really helps me indoors.
On her plans for 2017:&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s going to be a year that I just want to improve my performances and just do something good again. The 1500 is still my distance. But if I can I&rsquo;ll try to double (at the 2017 world championships). But that decision will come later.
<h3>Distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)</h3>
On the relationship and rivalry between Ethiopia and Kenya:
One thing we can&rsquo;t forget, and what I always say to Kenyans, &lsquo;Without Ethiopians, there would be no Kenyans. And without Kenyans, there would be no Ethiopians.&rsquo; We need each other. We improve because of each other. We have a great relationship off the track, outside sports.
<h3>Candace Hill (USA), the 2015 world U18 100m and 200m champion, and 2016 world U20 100m champion</h3>
On hating to lose:
I&rsquo;m a very strong competitor and have a competitive drive. I&rsquo;m also a perfectionist so I try not to lose. When I lose I feel kind of sad (laughs).
On her sub-11 (10.98) performance in 2015, which elevated her to the No. 3 position on the all-time U20 list:
My coach and I were definitely thinking it would come a little bit later. Especially out of high school. At that meet I wanted to PR, but I didn&rsquo;t think I would run under eleven seconds. When the official said, &lsquo;You ran 10.98&rsquo; I was like &lsquo;there&rsquo;s got to be something wrong. The clock&rsquo;s got to be broken, the wind wasn&rsquo;t legal, something has to be wrong.&rsquo;
But it came back official and that was really an eye-opener for me, that I have a future in this sport if I keep on working hard.
On the importance of balancing education with her passion for sport:
Education and athletics are both very important to me but I feel that you need your education because athletics can only last for so long. Education stays with you throughout your whole life.
On whether her sub-11 performance has added any pressure:
After I ran 10.98 I kind of put a lot pressure on myself. But after this year (I learned) that putting pressure on yourself doesn&rsquo;t make you run as fast or faster. So I try to push that aside and use that as motivation. So I won&rsquo;t do that anymore - next year I won&rsquo;t put any more pressure on myself.
<h3>Hakim Sani Brown (JPN), 2015 World U18 champion at 100m and 200m&nbsp;</h3>
On his current position as the o. 2 all-time U18 200m runner, trailing only Usain Bolt:
I&rsquo;m very happy to be at this level. I want to progress more and become faster.
On reaching the 200m semi-finals in at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing:
That was very special for me. I think it was also special was Japanese sprinting. So I was very happy to reach the semi-final.
On an injury he suffered this season which cut short his 2016 campaign:
I just ran my best 100m (10.22). I wanted to go to Rio but then I was injured. Then I was just thinking about how to get back on track. Now, I just want to get faster next year.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
Note: Several more press points are scheduled to take place throughout the day on Friday.
&nbsp;

Several world and Olympic champions met with the media in Monaco today on the eve of the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016. Here is a sampling of what some of them had to say.

IAAF Athletics Awards 2016 press points – day 1 

The Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Kawasaki will feature two world champions in the shape of Canada's Shawn Barber in the pole vault and USA's Tianna Bartoletta in the long jump, as well as a number of medallists from the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 at the third IAAF World Challenge meeting of 2016 on Sunday (8).
Barber, who was born and raised in the USA and attended Akron University but competes for the country of his father, joined the six-metre club when he cleared that height at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno in January.
He can expect competition from local star and defending champion Seito Yamamoto, who finished second in Reno by clearing a personal best of 5.77m and was sixth at the 2013 World Championships.
Bartoletta, who went a decade between world titles before winning again in Beijing last summer, will be aiming to complete the 100m-long jump double for the second straight year.
She will be challenged in the sprint by world indoor 60m champion and compatriot Barbara Pierre and Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, the 2013 world 200m bronze medallist.
In the long jump, Bartoletta will take on Australia's Brooke Stratton, who jumped a national record of 7.05m in March.
Meanwhile, the men's high jump features a duel between Chinese stars Zhang Guowei, the world silver medallist who will fly straight to Japan from the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of the year in Doha, and Wang Zu, last year's national champion.
China's world bronze medallist Wang Jianan heads a men's long jump field that includes five jumpers who have topped the eight-metre mark.
<h3>Sub-10 the target</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 100m, garnering significant local interest, features a trio of young Japanese sprinters who are knocking on the door of the milestone of going below 10 seconds.
Among those aiming to make Japanese history in the Todoroki Stadium will be Yoshihide Kiryu, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, and 2012 Olympian Ryota Yamagata.
Kiryu came closest to Koji Ito's Japanese record of 10.00, which has stood since 1998, when he stunned the athletics world by clocking 10.01 as a 17-year-old in 2013.
Yamagata put his name among the contenders when he ran 10.07 in London. Having returned from a back injury, the 2013 national champion recently ran 10.27 into a -2.5m/s wind.
"I had some anxiety, but I was able to run relaxed," Yamagata, 23, told the Japanese press. "If the wind was with me, it might have been a personal best. I had some tough times, but I never lost hope and I kept my feet on the ground. But I still haven't passed the Olympic qualifying time, and I'm still not No.1 in Japan so I still have to take it one step at a time. I think I'm at the point where I can challenge Kiryu."
Kiryu, who last year ran a wind-assisted 9.87 at the Texas Relays, spent the build-up to this season training in the USA. He returned to Austin for his first outdoor meeting of the season, where he ran 10.24 into a -1.4m/s wind.&nbsp;
Sani Brown, a Tokyo high school student whose father is Ghanaian and mother is Japanese, became a national hero when he completed a sprint double at the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015, breaking Usain Bolt's meeting record in the 200m in the process.
He has got off to a slow start this season, losing several domestic races to Japanese competitors and not yet bettering his career best of 10.28 but 2005 world champion Justin Gatlin sees great potential in the teenager.
"I like his style, his swag, his confidence he has," said Gatlin, who ran head-to-head with Sani Brown in the 200m semi-finals at last summer's World Championships.
"He showed confidence even in the rounds at the World Championships, especially in the 200m. That's going to be a focal point for him to keep that confidence. He can definitely be a contender in the sprinting world."
Gatlin had endeared himself to Japanese fans at the World Championships in Beijing, when he was shown on TV going out of his way to personally congratulate and praise Sani Brown after their 200m semi-final.
"I like the Asian meets," he said. "I like coming here, I like going to China. I like the races, I like the culture, I like being able to get away from 'our' side of the world and experience a different kind of culture."
The Kawasaki meeting marks the start in earnest of his season, which is aimed squarely at an anticipated showdown with Usain Bolt at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Ken Marantz for the IAAF

The Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Kawasaki will feature two world champions in the shape of Canada's Shawn Barber in the pole vault and USA's Tianna Bartoletta in the long jump, as well as a number of medallists from the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 at the third IAAF World Challenge meeting of 2016 on Sunday (8).

World champions Barber and Bartoletta add lustre to Kawasaki's Golden Grand Prix

At the Golden Grand Prix next month, Japan&rsquo;s two most prodigious sprinters will face each other for the first time as Yoshihide Kiryu and Abdul Hakim Sani Brown compete over 100m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Kawasaki on 8 May.
World junior bronze medallist Kiryu set a world U18 best of 10.19 over 100m in 2012 before improving to an Asian U20 record of 10.05 in 2014. He opened his 2015 season with a wind-assisted 9.87 in Texas but had to miss the peak of the summer season through injury.
The 20-year-old returned to form at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 last month, setting a 60m PB of 6.56 to miss out on a place in the final by just 0.01.
Sani Brown was one of the stars of the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015. Aged just 16 at the time, he won the sprint double and set championship records in both events, clocking 10.28 and 20.34.
He went on to compete at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, where he finished fifth in his 200m semifinal. At the end of last year, he was named the male IAAF rising star of 2015.
Still a youth athlete for the whole of 2016, Sani Brown will this season be aiming to break Kiryu&rsquo;s world U18 best over 100m and Usain Bolt&rsquo;s world U18 best of 20.13 over 200m.
But aside from their head-to-head battle in Kawasaki, they will face tough opposition from a field that includes two former 100m winners at this meeting.
World silver medallist Justin Gatlin, a winner at this meeting in 2014 when it was held in Tokyo, will be looking for another victory at the Golden Grand Prix. Meanwhile Chinese record-holder Su Bingtian, who won in Kawasaki in 2012, is fresh from an Asian indoor 60m record of 6.50 in Portland.
Organisers of the Golden Grand Prix have also announced the Japanese athletes set to compete in all the other events in Kawasaki next month.
Sprinters Kenji Fujimitsu and Kei Takase, who ran 20.13 and 20.14 respectively last year, will contest the 200m while Asian champion and national record-holder Chisato Fukushima will compete in the 100m, her specialist event.

At the Golden Grand Prix next month, Japan’s two most prodigious sprinters will face each other for the first time as Yoshihide Kiryu and Abdul Hakim Sani Brown compete over 100m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Kawasaki on 8 May.

Kiryu and Sani Brown will clash for first time in Kawasaki

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was named as the 2015 IAAF Rising Star of the Year on Thursday (26) after his 100m and 200m victories at the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015 and the 16-year-old Japanese sprint prodigy has now set his sights on a similar feat at next summer&rsquo;s IAAF World Junior Championships.&ldquo;I am very honoured to win the Rising Star Award of this year," said the delighted teenager. "This award has been given to top athletes, and I can't believe I won it.&ldquo;I would like to thank to everyone who selected me for such an amazing award. Also I can't thank enough my families, teachers and others who have been supporting me to come this far. &ldquo;I believe I was selected from the results of the World Youths in Cali, where I broke the 200m championship record held by Usain Bolt; and I won both the 100m and 200m. &ldquo;I'm not sure where the World Juniors will be next year, but I'm definitely aiming to double up and hopefully I can make a final at the Olympics.&ldquo;I will consider this year as a milestone, and I will train hard every day and do my best while trying to remain humble," he added. "My biggest goal is winning a medal in Tokyo 2020 (Olympic Games) and getting a world record."Beating Bolt&rsquo;s 200m championship record will probably be considered to be the apogee in a breakthrough year which grabbed the attention of athletics fans around the world.In 2014, his personal bests were only 10.45 in the 100m and 21.09 in the 200m; positive results for a 15-year-old but not too remarkable. By contrast, 2015 was full of memorable moments."Before the season started, we discussed his goals for 2015," said his coach, former 400m runner and Olympian Takahiko Yamamura.<h3>Initial goals quickly surpassed </h3>Sani Brown&rsquo;s initial goals for 2015 included simply making the team for Cali and qualifying for the Japanese Championships but they were quickly surpassed. His journey started at the Shizuoka International Track Meet in May where he ran what was then a personal best of 20.73.He earned second place in both the 100m and 200m, improving to 20.57 in the longer sprint, at the Japanese Championships in June, despite windy and cold conditions."I think the Japanese Nationals helped my confidence immensely," said Sani Brown.In July, he then travelled close to 24 hours from Japan to Colombia to participate at the World Youths held in Cali, where he notched up a pair of championship records with 10.28 and 20.34."To win both events was my goal," he said. "I set two meeting records, and I'm pretty happy with the overall results."Winning the 200m in Cali with 20.34 also gave him the standard for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing."My coach told me before the final (in Cali), if I'm comfortable I should try to push hard to make the standard for Beijing."&nbsp;On 29 August, Sani Brown made his debut at a senior international championship.Running out of lane nine, Yamamura told him: &ldquo;Just focus on your move. If you repeat the same performance from the finals at the World Youths, you will make the semi-final.&rdquo; He did just that. Sani Brown quickly got out of his blocks and held his form to finish second in his first-round heat. &ldquo;Though it wasn't a perfect race, I'm very happy to make the semi-final.&rdquo;However, the semi-final on the following day ended up being a bitter-sweet experience for Sani Brown, who was the youngest competitor ever in a World Championships men's 200m. &nbsp;Once again he was assigned lane nine, but this time ran out of steam. Sani Brown tried his best, but was a bit stiff and was unable to accelerate on the curve and finished fifth.&ldquo;I heard the sound of (Justin) Gatlin's footfalls in lane seven and while I was expecting to be caught by him, I did not think it would happen at such an early stage of the race,&rdquo; he added, with a modicum of disappointment.&ldquo;Mentally I was very tired and maybe the pressure finally caught up with me."Nevertheless, it was a good initiation for the youngster, learning about the intense atmosphere in the warm-up area, sharing accommodation with senior athletes, and even practising for the 4x100m relay.<h3>Rio on the horizon</h3>Sani Brown currently attends Josai High School in the heart of Tokyo and, not surprisingly, space is at a premium. The track and field team has a daily training session on a tennis court or in the streets around a school because they don't own a track. For a sprint session, they travel to a public track or a nearby university track, like nomadic athletes. However, despite the fact that his environment is far from perfect, his coach Yamamura designs unique programmes for them. During the winter, they do lots of basic core training which Sani Brown admits he doesn't enjoy much. &ldquo;Hakim doesn't listen to me during training sessions, but he listens before races and delivers well," said Yamamura. &ldquo;I think I do listen to you, coach,&rdquo; responded Sani Brown, slightly alarmed.Yamamura won the 1997 national 400m title at the age of just 17 and&nbsp;is a passionate and well-spoken person. He thinks Sani Brown's growth curve is unpredictable but that the sprinter has the tools and potential to not only take the title in the Japanese Olympic Trials 200m next year, but also have a long and successful career. In the short term though, there is the IAAF World Junior Championships to consider.No other athlete, of either gender, has managed to follow a World Youth sprint double with a similar brace in the junior age category the following year.If Sani Brown achieves that, he will enter the history books once more.Ayako Oikawa for the IAAF

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was named as the 2015 IAAF Rising Star of the Year on Thursday (26) after his 100m and 200m victories at the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015 and the 16-year-old Japanese sprint prodigy has now set his sights on a similar feat at next summer’s IAAF World Junior Championships.

IAAF Rising Star Sani Brown now focuses on 2016

A world record-holder and a recent global champion are among the athletes named on Japan&rsquo;s team for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015.Yusuke Suzuki will travel to the Chinese capital as one of his country&rsquo;s top hopes for a medal, having smashed the world record in the 20km race walk earlier this year with 1:16:36.Since then, he has maintained his good form, clocking Asian race walking records on the track over 5000m and 10,000m.At the other end of the event spectrum, double world youth sprint champion Abdul Hakim Sani Brown has been named in the 200m. The 16-year-old, who clocked a championship record of 20.34 to win over the longer distance in Cali last month, will become the youngest athlete in history to contest the 200m at the IAAF World Championships.All four of Japan&rsquo;s Asian champions &ndash; 400m hurdler Yuta Konishi, high jumper Takashi Eto, decathlete Akihiko Nakamura and sprinter Chisato Fukushima &ndash; also feature on the team.Japan will put forward teams for the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, women&rsquo;s 4x100m and 4x400m if they are among the top 16 teams by the end of the qualification period.<h3>Japanese team for Beijing</h3>MEN 100m: Kei Takase 200m: Kenji Fujimitsu, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, Kei Takase 400m: Yuzo Kanemaru 5000m: Kota Murayama, Suguru Osako 10,000m: Kenta Murayama, Yuta Shitara, Tetsuya Yoroizaka Marathon: Masakazu Fujiwara, Kazuhiro Maeda 400m hurdles: Takayuki Kishimoto, Yuta Konishi, Yuki Matsushita High jump: Takashi Eto, Yuji Hiramatsu, Naoto Tobe Pole vault: Hiroki Ogita, Seito Yamamoto Long jump: Yohei Sugai Javelin: Ryohei Arai Decathlon: Akihiko Nakamura, Keisuke Ushiro 20km race walk: Isamu Fujisawa, Yusuke Suzuki, Eiki Takahashi 50km race walk: Hiroki Arai, Takayuki Tanii, Yuki Yamazaki 4x100m: Kenji Fujimitsu, Takuya Nagata, Kazuma Oseto, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, Kei Takase, Kotaro TaniguchiWOMEN 100m: Chisato Fukushima 200m: Chisato Fukushima 5000m: Misaki Onishi, Azusa Sumi, Ayuko Suzuki 10,000m: Kasuma Nishihara, Rei Ohara, Yuka Takashima Marathon: Mai Ito, Sairi Maeda, Risa Shigetomo Javelin: Yuki Ebihara 20km race walk: Kumiko Okada

A world record-holder and a recent global champion are among the athletes named on Japan’s team for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015.

Suzuki and Sani Brown feature on Japan’s team for IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

With another championship record, another world youth best and her second gold medal of the week, Candace Hill cemented her status as the star of the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 which concluded after five days of thrilling competition on Sunday (19). The 16-year-old from Georgia powered from her blocks in the girls&rsquo; 200m final and though she had US team-mate Lauren Rain Williams for company as she turned into the home straight, Hill soon showed why she is being widely touted as the future of women's sprinting and drew well clear to win in 22.43, obliterating her previous best of 23.05. &ldquo;I had a great start and when I got into the home straight, I just gave it all I had,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d just run a 22.9 but 22.4 is way above what I expected.&rdquo;Silver medallist Williams also set a personal best in second, her time of 22.90 actually faster than every winning time in the 16-year history of these championships. Shortly after Hill completed her 100m/200m double, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan took to the track and emulated her achievement with an imperious performance in the boys&rsquo; 200m, his winning time of 20.34 taking 0.06 off Usain Bolt&rsquo;s championship record. Drawn in lane six, the 16-year-old flew from the blocks and led coming into the home straight, with South Africa&rsquo;s Kyle Appel his closest pursuer. Just like in the 100m earlier in the week, no one could get close to Sani Brown on the final run to the line and the Tokyo schoolboy came home a clear winner ahead of Appel (20.57) and 400m silver medallist Josephus Lyles of the USA (20.74), who also set personal bests. &ldquo;Two times gold in Cali is what I expected,&rdquo; said Sani Brown. &ldquo;I want to do so much more, win Olympic gold and set the world record. Cali was a big step to do that.&rdquo;<h3>Eight golds for USA</h3>The USA unsurprisingly topped the medal table in Cali, doing so with a record medal haul. They won their eighth gold medal of the week in the final event, the mixed 4x400m relay, which was making its debut at these championships. The quartets were comprised of two boys and two girls, with teams allowed to decide the running order. Only the USA and Canada used the boy-girl-boy-girl strategy, and wound up taking the gold and bronze medals. The US quartet of Keshun Reed, Lynna Irby, Norman Grimes and Samantha Watson were never truly threatened during the race, Watson bringing them home to a decisive victory in 3:19.54. South Africa&rsquo;s Kyle Appel, having blasted through the first 200 metres of his anchor leg, found himself in a head-to-head, battle-of-the-sexes duel with Canada&rsquo;s Kyra Constantine for the silver medal. He edged it, just, to grab the silver medal for South Africa, with both teams credited with the same 3:23.60.In the girls&rsquo; 800m, little more than a hour before the relay, Watson produced a performance of superb tactical awareness, taking victory in a personal best of 2:03.54. The 15-year-old sheltered behind Ethiopia&rsquo;s Foziyu Niguse and Italy&rsquo;s Marta Zenoni on the first lap before sweeping into the lead and unleashing a potent kick with 200 metres to go, building a lead that Zenoni and Ethiopia&rsquo;s other runner, Gadese Ejara, simply couldn&rsquo;t close.Ejara also ran a PB of 2:03.54 in second while Zenoni finished third in 2:04.15. &ldquo;It was a very hard race,&rdquo; said Watson. &ldquo;I had to fight a lot.&rdquo;<h3>Botha surprises in the javelin</h3>The shocks continued in the boys&rsquo; javelin, in which South Africa&rsquo;s Paul Jacobus Botha sprung a major surprise on event favourite Niklas Kaul, adding almost four metres to his lifetime best with his winning throw of 78.49m. Kaul, who had propelled himself to gold in the boys&rsquo; decathlon earlier in the week with a massive javelin throw, had to settle for silver this time, his best effort of 78.06m coming in the first round. &ldquo;I knew what I had come here for and it&rsquo;s amazing to win gold,&rdquo; said Botha. &ldquo;The crowd was incredible and I want to thank everyone.&rdquo;&ldquo;I felt good in my first attempt,&rdquo; said Kaul, &ldquo;but then I felt the exhaustion from my decathlon effort. I&rsquo;m happy with gold and silver here in Cali.&rdquo;The girls&rsquo; long jump title went to the USA&rsquo;s Tara Davis, whose final-round effort of 6.41m was more than enough to secure gold ahead of Kaiza Karlen of Sweden.Karlen led for much of the competition after her 6.24m jump in the second round, which was a 17-centimetre improvement on her personal best. However, Davis took the lead with a 6.24m effort in the fifth round, which she improved again to 6.41m on her last attempt. &ldquo;I knew it was a big jump,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I didn&rsquo;t think it was that far.&rdquo; Three centimetres covered the next five girls but the bronze medal went to Maja Bedrac of Slovenia with 6.22m. Sweden&rsquo;s Armand Duplantis won the boys&rsquo; pole vault, his winning clearance of 5.30m a championship record which brought a sizeable and extremely vocal Colombian crowd to its feet in celebration. The final came down to a duel between Duplantis and Ukraine&rsquo;s Vladyslav Malykhin, who also cleared 5.30m but was beaten on countback due to only clearing 5.25m on his second attempt.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to have won the gold medal,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I expected a hard battle and I had it. I&rsquo;m happy I had somebody to push me.&rdquo;The boys&rsquo; 3000m produced one of the most exciting finishes of the week, with Kenya&rsquo;s Richard Yator Kimunyan unleashing a 55-second last lap and just managing to edge out his team-mate Davis Kiplangat and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tefera Mosisa in a three-way tussle down the home straight, his time of 7:54.45 giving him the win by just 0.07.&ldquo;The race was not too hard for me,&rdquo; said Kimunyan. &ldquo;The finish was very fast and I was strong. It&rsquo;s great for Kenya, because my colleagues are used to winning.&rdquo;There was more joy for Kenya in the boys&rsquo; 2000m steeplechase, with Vincent Kipyegon Ruto taking victory in 5:27.58 after an aggressive display of front-running. The 16-year-old&rsquo;s win ensured the gold medal made its way back to Kenya for the seventh time in the nine editions of these championships. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Wogene Sebisibe took the silver medal with a personal best of 5:29.41, while Kenya&rsquo;s Geofrey Rotich was third in 5:30.16. &ldquo;The wind was a small problem but I still produced my best,&rdquo; said Ruto. &ldquo;I always expected this victory.&rdquo;Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

With another championship record, another world youth best and her second gold medal of the week, Candace Hill cemented her status as the star of the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 which concluded after five days of thrilling competition on Sunday (19). 

Hill gets 200m world youth best, Sani Brown also takes sprint double in Cali

Just 15 minutes after Candace Hill completed the girls&rsquo; 100m and 200m double, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown matched the feat at the IAAF World Championships, Cali 2015 with a breath-taking performance of almost equal magnitude on Sunday afternoon (19).In winning gold, the Japanese sprinter secured the first boys' 100m/200m sprint double at these championships for 10 years and lowered Usain Bolt&rsquo;s championship record by 0.06, posting a dazzling time of 20.34.He is clearly a talent to cherish.In the highest quality boys' 200m in the history of the championships, six of the field posted personal best times including the minor medallists Kyle Appel of South Africa (20.57) and Josephus Lyles (20.74), &nbsp;the latter adding to the silver medal he had won earlier in the championships over 400m. Moments before the race, Sani Brown pointed skywards as a hush of anticipation descended on the Pascual Guerrero Stadum on the final day of action.Drawn in lane six, the 16-year-old Tokyo schoolboy had his main rivals to his inside and he made a solid start establishing a good early rhythm.Cuba&rsquo;s Edel Rogelio Amores in the outside lane eight was also prominent in the first half of the race with Lyles and Appel in contention as well. Entering the home straight it was advantage Sani Brown, yet the sheer quality of the field ensured that this would be no soft gold medal success for the man who had grabbed the championship record in the 100m on the opening nightComplete with snazzy green-rimmed sunglasses, Sani Brown was made to work hard but always kept at least two metres clear of his rivals as Appel &ndash; who was disqualified from the semi-finals of the 100m for false-starting &ndash; started to emerge as the Japanese athlete&rsquo;s chief challenger.Yet Sani Brown proved once again the golden boy.His time of 20.34 not only surpassed Bolt&rsquo;s championship record but he catapulted himself to number two &ndash; behind Bolt &ndash; on the world youth all-time list.Appel also executed a great race to win silver and climb to joint eighth on the world youth all-time list, while Lyles will look back on a job well done here in Cali.Derick Silva of Brazil, the silver medallist in the 100m, grabbed fourth in a personal best of 20.85 &ndash; just 0.01 ahead of Appel&rsquo;s countryman Tlotliso Gift Leotlela.Sani Brown may have been one of the stars of these ninth IAAF World Youth Championships but his intention is that Colombia is only the beginning of his story. &nbsp;&ldquo;Two times gold in Cali is what I expected,&rdquo; he said confidently. &ldquo;I want to do so much more, win Olympic gold and set the world record and Cali was a big step to do that.&rdquo;The world will now be watching the next chapter of his story.Steve Landells for the IAAF

Just 15 minutes after Candace Hill completed the girls’ 100m and 200m double, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown matched the feat at the IAAF World Championships, Cali 2015 with a breath-taking performance of almost equal magnitude on Sunday afternoon (19).

Boys' 200m – IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015

It is perhaps with a hint of irony that Abdul Hakim Sani Brown cites sleeping as one of his favourite hobbies. The Japanese sprinter, who blazed his way to a championship record of 10.28 to strike gold in the boys&rsquo; 100m final on the opening day of the IAAF World Youth Championships, certainly left his rivals looking comatose as a fully alert Sani Brown left his rivals for dust. Having breezed through the morning heats of the 200m in 21.19 on Friday, the outrageously talented Tokyo schoolboy hopes to become the first athlete in 10 years to secure the World Youth Championships boys&rsquo; sprint double since Great Britain&rsquo;s Harry Aikines-Aryeetey achieved the feat in Marrakech. Few would bet against it. Born in Fukuoka to a Japanese mother and Ghanaian father, his athletic ability is credited to his mother, Akiko, who competed in national high school championships as a sprint hurdler.Sani Brown started his personal sporting life, like so many kids, as a football striker. However, aged 10 his path was to take a new course. &ldquo;I used to play football but mum persuaded me to focus on athletics as I&rsquo;m not really good at team sports,&rdquo; said the naturally shy and modest Sani Brown.He quickly discovered a gift for running and, aged 14, the Josai High School student made a significant breakthrough, finishing second in the 200m and third in the 100m at the national school championships. It was the moment he realised he had not only a talent but a potentially rosy future in the sport.Working with his coach Takahiko Yamamura &ndash; a teacher at his high school &ndash; Sani Brown started to make progress. <h3>Prodigy's progress</h3>Last year he caught the eye, posting noteworthy bests of 10.45 and 21.09 in Japan. Still only aged 15, he finished a highly impressive 12th and 17th respectively on the 2014 world youth lists.Training five times a week, he has continued to improve this year, running a world youth 100m lead of 10.30 in his home city of Tokyo in May and the following month setting the world&rsquo;s fastest 200m time for an under-18 athlete with 20.56.Yet the acid test of his ability came in Colombia in what was his first ever competition outside of Japan. Exposed to genuine global competition for the first time, and dealing with a very different culture and environment, can be hugely overwhelming for some, but not Sani Brown.In the 100m heats he announced to the world he was the boy to beat in Cali, trimming 0.01 from the championship record to run 10.30.&nbsp; In the semi-final he precisely matched this time, while easing down over the final metres, before keeping his composure in a final he was heavily favoured to win.Making a steady rather than spectacular start, he began to edge ahead at halfway before powering clear in the latter stages to clinch victory in a time of 10.28 in the final. &ldquo;Winning helped give me 100 per cent confidence, but I&rsquo;m always confident," he said. "It is a great feeling to be the best in the world and not just a national school champion."Ominously for his rivals, he believes there is room for improvement.&nbsp; &ldquo;I ran well but I made some mistakes and I know I can run better,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;My start was not too good (in the 100m).&nbsp; As the world youth leader in the 200m, the 1.87m tall sprinter will be the man to beat in the half-lap event and a golden double could be a distinct possibility. <h3>Calm customer</h3>Rating one of his strengths as &ldquo;staying calm and not panicking before a race&rdquo; and one of his weaknesses as his start, he would appear to have the world at his feet. In future Sani Brown &ndash; a big fan of &ldquo;rap and hip-hop but not Japanese music&rdquo; &ndash; hopes to qualify at the Rio Olympics next year when he will be aged just 17.Surprisingly, despite genuine excitement at his progress in his homeland, there are no Japanese media in Cali following the event. One suspects if he continues his rate of progress, that is unlikely to happen again, especially remembering how quickly his compatriot and world youth best-holder Yoshihide Kiryu has ignited interest in the past few years.Yet his story begs one final question: if the teenager loves sleep, how many hours of shut eye does the Japanese sprinter enjoy per day?&ldquo;Oh, anywhere between 12 and 13 hours,&rdquo; he adds. For those who are familiar with the sleeping habits of teenagers, this is perhaps not such a strange occurrence. To run 10.28 for the 100m is, however, perhaps a little less common.Steve Landells for the IAAF

It is perhaps with a hint of irony that Abdul Hakim Sani Brown cites sleeping as one of his favourite hobbies. 

Sani Brown could be Japan's new athletics superstar

An impressive championship record of 10.28 in the boys&rsquo; 100m by Japan&rsquo;s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown capped an entertaining opening day of the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Wednesday (15).Sani Brown&rsquo;s dominant victory in the Colombian city came in one of the four finals in a breezy Pascual Guerrero Stadium, but was certainly the most impressive.The 16-year-old arrived in Cali with a 10.30 personal best from May, one he equalled in this morning&rsquo;s opening round and again in the semi-finals. In the final, it was clearly a battle of Sani Brown against the clock from 40 metres onwards when he began to extend his lead with every stride. Improbably, he stopped the clock in 10.29, which was later adjusted by another notch in his favour to land him on the doorstep of the event&rsquo;s all-time top-ten.Derrick Silva of Brazil was a distant second in 10.49 with Great Britain&rsquo;s Rechmial Miller crossing the line in 10.59 for third.Adrian Piperi took command of the boys&rsquo; shot put in the second round with a national youth record of 22.00m to collect the USA&rsquo;s second gold in the event. It was an improvement of nearly a metre for the 16-year-old, one he managed to match with his throw in the final round and which catapulted him to the top of the world season&rsquo;s list and ninth on the world youth all-time list.Poland&rsquo;s Szymon Mazur was second with 21.77m while Sweden&rsquo;s Wictor Petersson took the bronze with 21.56m, personal bests for both athletes.Shuru Bulo of Ethiopia took a convincing victory in the girls&rsquo; 3000m, an event all but dominated by Kenya at these championships&rsquo; previous eight editions. Bulo, relatively unheralded prior to her arrival in Cali, took the lead with 200 metres remaining en route to her 9:01.12 performance, a world-youth-leading time. Kenya&rsquo;s Emily Chebet Kipchumba, who ran at the front for most of the race, finished second in 9:02.92, just ahead of teammate Sheila Chelangat.<h3>Emilianov's discus delight&nbsp; </h3>The fourth title of the day went to Moldova&rsquo;s Alexandra Emilianov who produced a minor upset in the girls&rsquo; discus.&nbsp; Emilianov threw a 52.78m personal best in the second round to take the lead for good from Montenegro&rsquo;s Kristina Rakocevic whose best on the day was a 51.14m effort, also from round two. Samantha Peace of Australia took the bronze, her 50.59m also a career best and the first medal in the event for Australia since Dani Samuels&rsquo; victory in 2005.In the decathlon at the halfway point, France&rsquo;s Ludovic Besson of France will carry a 29-point lead into the second day of these championships&rsquo; inaugural decathlon competition. The 17-year-old produced personal bests in four events &ndash; 10.97 in the 100m, 7.05m in the long jumps, 1.87m in the high jump and 49.93 in the 400m &ndash; to tally 4106 points, marginally ahead of the USA&rsquo;s George Patrick, who collected 4077. Patrick also notched four personal bests of his own: 7.26m in the long jump, 15.54m in the shot put, 1.96m in the high jump and 50.54 in the 400m.Propelled by 10.93 and 7.53m performances in the 100m and long jump, Hans-Christian Hausenberg sits in third with 4075 points. Germany's Niklas Kaul will also move up the standings on day two as his strongest event, the javelin, is yet to come.Ryusei Fujii of Japan led all qualifiers in the 400m hurdles with a 50.87 run, a personal best by more than half a second. Nearly as fast was the USA&rsquo;s Norman Grimes, who won heat five in 50.95.In the women&rsquo;s contest, USA's world youth leader Sydney McLaughlin solidified her favourite&rsquo;s role with a comfortable 56.81 victory in the opening heat, more than a second faster than anyone else.<h3>Amano looks a little like Aman</h3>Omer Amano made his ambitions to become the first 800m champion from Ethiopia quite clear with a confident 1:50.31 victory in the fifth heat to lead all qualifiers into Thursday evening&rsquo;s semi-finals. Other heat winners included Kenyans Willy Kiplimo Tarbei (1:50.92) and Kipyegon Bett (1:51.38) and Great Britain&rsquo;s Ben Greenwood (1:51.58). Meanwhile, Kenya looks to be on target for a second successive 1-2 finish in the girls&rsquo; 2000m steeplechase, courtesy of Sandrafelis Chebet Tuei and Celliphinie Chepteek Chespol. The pair dominated the evening&rsquo;s two opening round heats winning in 6:26.70 and 6:31.97 respectively. In the boys' triple jump qualifiers, world youth leader and pre-event favourite Cristian Atanay Napoles of Cuba led the round with a 15.98m effort, marginally ahead of China&rsquo;s Du Mingze who improved his career bet to 15.82m. In the girls&rsquo; javelin, Czech Republic&rsquo;s Nikol Tabackova topped the round with a 55.29m effort, with Germany&rsquo;s Lotte Reimann also throwing beyond 54 metres with 54.35m to her name.Day two action kicks off at 09:30 local time with the decathlon 110m hurdles. The evening will witness new champions crowned in the girls&rsquo; 100m, 100m hurdles, shot put and javelin, and in the decathlon and long jump on the boys&rsquo; programme.Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

An impressive championship record of 10.28 in the boys’ 100m by Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown capped an entertaining opening day of the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Wednesday (15).