The USA ended its successful five-day stay in Cali with an impressive victory in the championship finale, the inaugural and innovative mixed 4x400m relay which delivered both entertainment and down-to-the-wire drama at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Sunday (19).The quartets were made up of two boys and two girls with teams allowed to decide the running order. Only the USA and Canada opted for the boy-girl-boy-girl option and they wound up taking gold and bronze. Perhaps, whether by luck or design, they have found the optimal combination but there was more to the event than just that aspect of how to best spread your resources.Keshun Reed, the individual 400m bronze medallist, had a marginal lead for the USA after his opening leg and Lynna Irby, the girls&rsquo; 400m silver medallist, managed to extend it even further.Norman Grimes, the 400m hurdles champion, took his turn with the baton, all but putting the race out of reach when he handed off a hefty lead to anchor Samantha Watson, who just 76 minutes earlier dropped to the track with exhaustion after prevailing in a fierce head-to-head duel to win the 800m. However, that earlier all-out effort barely showed as she made her way down the home straight to a 3:19.54 victory.&ldquo;I felt the pain,&rdquo; Watson admitted, &ldquo;but I really wanted to bring another gold medal for my team.&rdquo;Behind her, a different sort of drama was rapidly developing.South African anchor Kyle Appel, who earlier in the afternoon raced to a silver medal in the 200m, worked hard to eat up a sizeable gap as he chased Canada&rsquo;s anchor Kyra Constantine, the fourth-place finisher in the girls&rsquo; 400m. He got on her shoulder some 30 metres from the finish and a desperate stride-for-stride battle ensued. With the crowd on its feet and cheering wildly, Constantine held him off until the final metre when Appel just caught her with his lunge for the line. Both teams were credited with 3:23.60 but a photo-finish reading gave the verdict to South Africa.In the aftermath, the leg took its toll on Appel who missed the medal ceremony after being carried off on a stretcher.Germany, who were level with South Africa at the final change, were a distant fourth in 3:24.50 but the leading European team home and just ahead of Poland in fifth with 3:24.64.Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

The USA ended its successful five-day stay in Cali with an impressive victory in the championship finale, the inaugural and innovative mixed 4x400m relay which delivered both entertainment and down-to-the-wire drama at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Sunday (19).

Mixed 4x400m – IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015

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).

Mixed 4x400m – IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015

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