Tia Jones is giving it another go for gold. So are former IAAF age-group champions Tara Davis and Sammy Watson.
Jones won the 100m hurdles in 12.89 on Saturday (16) night on day 2 of the USA Junior Championships at Bloomington, Indiana.&nbsp;
Cortney Jones was second in 12.91, knocking U20 record-holder Chanel Brissett off Team USA. Brissett, third in 12.95, set a pending record of 12.75 a month ago. Davis was fifth in 13.12.
Jones, at age 15, was bronze medalist in the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016. Her PB that year was 12.84.
Top two in each event qualify for selection to next month&rsquo;s junior worlds at Tampere, Finland.
Davis missed making it in the hurdles but set a world junior lead of 6.71m in the long jump to make the team in that event. She won long jump gold in the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.
&nbsp;
<div id="5b261d35da8b9102b8e8e622" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/2c9ae430-0ce9-4964-a7aa-a1c89b2a5191.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Sammy Watson winning the US junior 800m title</div>
&nbsp;
Watson will try to repeat her gold from Bydgoszcz, after taking the 800m in a season best of 2:01.46. Caitlin Collier was second in 2:01.66.
Watson ran relatively even splits of 59.69/1:01.77. That came one week after winning an NCAA title in Eugene with 61.08/63.13 for 2:04.21.
&ldquo;I feel like I have been in every kind of race,&rdquo; she said.
The high jump champion was Shelby Tyler, whose victory came three weeks after a school shooting in her hometown of Noblesville, Indiana. She was barricaded for hours in her high school English class. Science teacher Jason Seaman, protecting his students, was injured in the shooting at a nearby middle school.
&ldquo;It was terrifying, honestly,&rdquo; Tyler said. &ldquo;It was an awful experience, but definitely one that brought the whole community together.&rdquo;
Tyler, coming off a 9 February surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her left knee, jumped a PB of 1.85m on her first attempt. She was first on countback over Sanaa Barnes, whose 1.85m was also a PB.
In men&rsquo;s events, Cory Poole became the third in meet history to sweep the hurdles. One day after winning the 110m barriers in 13.34, he took the 400m hurdles in 49.71. "I never thought I would be doubling,&rdquo; he said, but completed the sweep after waiting out a 90-minute delay because of a storm warning.
&ldquo;I kept saying to myself, &lsquo;Be strong mentally, be strong mentally,&rsquo;&ldquo; Poole said.
Previous hurdles sweeps were achieved by Kenneth Ferguson in 2003 and Jeffrey Jackson in 1993.
Adrian Piperi won the shot put at 21.50m, moving up to No. 2 among U20 athletes this year. Jordan West was second at 21.16m, worth No. 4 on the yearly list.
Josh Hoey came off a slow 55.28 opening lap to take the 800m in 1:49.48, a second off his 1:48.37 PB.
Roy Jordan for the IAAF

Tia Jones is giving it another go for gold. So are former IAAF age-group champions Tara Davis and Sammy Watson.

Wins by Jones, Davis and Watson highlight day 2 at US Junior Championships

After six thrilling days of action, perhaps this was the only appropriate climax.
In the final race on the final day of the IAAF World U20&nbsp;Championships Bydgoszcz 2016, it was the USA &ndash; yet again &ndash; who reigned supreme.
Despite the strength of the Botswanan quartet in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, there always seemed a certain inevitability about the destination of the gold medal, and so it proved.
Ten times already this week, the sound of The Star-Spangled Banner had rung out around the stadium, heralding another gold medal for USA, and as the athletes set off for the final leg of the 4x400m, their anchor man Wilbert London III seemed&nbsp;desperate for an encore.
He faced a 10-metre deficit, but closed the gap gradually over the first 300 metres, slowly&nbsp;reeling in Botswana&rsquo;s Xholani Talane before powering on by with 50 metres to run. As he did so, a horde of his teammates beside the finish erupted into chants of U-S-A.&nbsp;
The US reached the finish in&nbsp;3:02.39, while Botswana, gallant in defeat, set an African U20 record of 3:02.81 in second. Jamaica took&nbsp;bronze in 3:04.83.
<h3>Gold rush</h3>
That race, in essence, was the story of the week in Bydgoszcz, where the&nbsp;USA didn&rsquo;t just top the medal table; they virtually monopolised it.
They took 11 gold medals, more than twice that of their closest competitor, Kenya, who took five. Their overall medal tally&nbsp;of 21 was also more than double their nearest rivals, Ethiopia.
The women&rsquo;s 4x400m proved another example of their&nbsp;dominance, the expected challenge of Jamaica disintegrating on the third leg as Stacey-Ann Williams gifted the US&nbsp;an insurmountable lead by running the entire leg in lane two. Despite the best efforts of individual bronze medallist Junelle Bromfeld on Jamaica's anchor leg, USA held on, with 800m champion Samantha Watson bringing them home in 3:29.11. &nbsp;
<h3>Euphoria for Elvira</h3>
As is so often the case in major championship finals, it was the athlete who kept her head best who prevailed in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles. In what proved an incredibly tight affair &ndash; just 0.08 covered the first four &ndash; Elvira Herman of Belarus clocked a European U20 and championship record of 12.85 to take gold.
European U20 champion last year, world U20 champion this year &ndash; you could forgive Herman for finally losing her composure when the result was confirmed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a state of total euphoria,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I set a PB, national record and championship record. You can&rsquo;t find emotion like this anywhere else.&rdquo;
<h3>The fall and rise</h3>
With 550m to run in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase final, the medal contenders had been whittled to four: Kenya&rsquo;s Amos Kirui and Vincent Kipyegon Ruto, Eritrea&rsquo;s Yemane Haileselassie and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Getnet Wale.
Moments later, disaster struck for Wale, the Ethiopian crashing to the track after stumbling upon landing in the water pit. As Kirui and Ruto pushed the pace along at the front, Wale spent the ensuing 400 metres fighting his way back into medal contention, which he accomplished as he approached the final water jump in third&nbsp;place.
And then it happened again.
In an almost identical fall, Wale crashed to the track emerging from the water, but rose to his feet just as fast, somehow summoning the energy within him to continue on his medal hunt.
Up front, Kirui surged clear to win in 8:20.43, while Haileselassie found an extra gear to take silver in 8:22.67. Ruto, meanwhile, faded badly in the home straight and was chased down by Wale, who with a dogged effort lunged forward over&nbsp;the line, crashing to the track for the third time in a little&nbsp;over a minute to snatch bronze by 0.01 in 8:22.83.
Wale&nbsp;may be left with&nbsp;an array of bumps and bruises when he departs Bydgoszcz in&nbsp;the morning, but in his carry-on luggage he will have the ideal painkiller: a hard-fought medal&nbsp;for his country.&nbsp;
<h3>A winning Bett</h3>
With the wind gusting strongly around the stadium for the men&rsquo;s 800m final, many would have considered a conservative strategy &ndash; drafting off rivals&nbsp;until the business end of the race &ndash; the most sensible approach for a title contender. Not Kipyegon Bett.
The Kenyan swept to the lead as the eight athletes broke lanes in the back straight, passing 400m in 52.98. His teammate Willy Tarbei, who defeated Bett at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali last year, was poised on his shoulder, appearing ready to strike.
This time, though, Bett was not for passing and he accelerated away off the final bend to win in 1:44.95, with Tarbei a close second in 1:45.50. &ldquo;I expected to win,&rdquo; said Bett. &ldquo;My only problem was the finishing kick, but I worked hard on that this year.&rdquo;
It showed.
Kenya&rsquo;s arch&nbsp;rivals gained some revenge in the women&rsquo;s 1500m, with Ethiopia taking gold and silver medals. Adanech Anbesa led the field home in 4:08.07 ahead of Fantu Worku, with the relatively unheralded US runner Christina Aragon charging through to take bronze in a PB of 4:08.71.
<h3>Gold again for high achiever Hruba</h3>
World U18 champion Michaela Hruba was widely expected to take the women&rsquo;s high jump title in Bydgoszcz, but the weight of expectation can often prove a hefty&nbsp;burden. If the 18-year-old felt the pressure, it certainly didn&rsquo;t show, as she sailed over 1.74m, 1.79m, 1.83m, 1.86m and 1.89m at the first time of asking.
That gave her complete control of the competition, with only Mexico&rsquo;s Ximena Lizbeth Esquivel able to join her at the deciding height of 1.91m. After a first-time failure, Hruba soon made the necessary adjustment and sailed clear.
Try as she might, Esquivel couldn&rsquo;t match her, and Hruba maintained her winning ways. &ldquo;Everything was perfect,&rdquo; she said afterwards. It was hard to disagree.
<h3>Magnificent Moaaz springs surprise</h3>
In his very first throw of the competition, Qatar&rsquo;s Mohamed Ibrahim Moaaz effectively ended the men&rsquo;s discus as a contest, unleashing a whopping throw of 63.63m to take command of the competition, a lead&nbsp;he never relinquished. &nbsp;
The 17-year-old&nbsp;had only been considered an outside medal chance before the event, and very&nbsp;few envisioned him taking gold. With this title under his belt, however, he is now planning more of the same in the coming years.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even describe the feeling right now,&rdquo; said Moaaz, who left his senior&nbsp;rivals with a noteworthy prediction. &ldquo;Next year I will surprise you.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

After six thrilling days of action, perhaps this was the only appropriate climax.

USA steals the show on climactic final day in Bydgoszcz

US sprint sensation Candace Hill&rsquo;s championship record of 11.07 (0.9m/s) to take the women&rsquo;s 100m title was the undoubted highlight on the third evening of action at the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 on Thursday (21).
In the final event of the night, the 17-year-old provided a suitably thrilling climax to proceedings, edging local favourite Ewa Swoboda of Poland, who set a national U20 record of 11.12 in second. Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Khalifa St Fort took the bronze medal in 11.18.
Hill, the world U18 champion and the fastest US schoolgirl in history, made a quick turnaround after the US Olympic Trials to come to Bydgoszcz, but her efforts were rewarded in kind. &ldquo;I was disappointed after US Trials, but my goal was to win and bring the title back home,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I wanted to beat the championship record too.&rdquo;
That she did, Hill&rsquo;s time of 11.07 smashing Veronica Campbell-Brown&rsquo;s mark of 11.12, which had stood for 16 years.
Swoboda was equally elated in second. &ldquo;I faced the best sprinters in the world,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I lost by just 0.05. That&rsquo;s half the length of a finger. My career is only just getting started. Get ready for faster running.&rdquo;
Great Britain&rsquo;s Imani-Lara Lansiquot finished fourth in 11.37, with Colombia&rsquo;s Eveyln Rivera fifth in 11.59.
<h3>Watson and Krah make it&nbsp;triple gold&nbsp;for USA</h3>
Hill&rsquo;s victory made it a night to remember for&nbsp;the US team as Samantha Watson claimed gold in the women's 800m and Marcus Krah did likewise in the men's 110m hurdles final.
Watson powered to the front around the final turn in the two-lap event, the world U18 champion seizing control ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Betty Chepkemoi Sigei and racing away to victory in 2:04.52. Her compatriot Aaliyah Miller arrived with a late charge to take second in 2:05.06, just in front of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Ketema, who came home third in 2:05.13.
&ldquo;All the training has paid off,&rdquo; said Watson. &ldquo;I just wanted to get to that finish line really badly. As I was coming into the home straight, I didn&rsquo;t know where Aaliyah was, I was just hoping she was right behind me.&rdquo;
Unlike Watson, Krah led every step of the way to take the 110m hurdles title, blasting from the blocks in explosive fashion and snapping his way over the 10 barriers to a virtually flawless performance. Unsurprisingly, his winning time of 13.25 was a personal best and his joy was bolstered at the finish as he looked across to see teammate Amere Lattin take silver, his 13.30 also a PB. Japan&rsquo;s Takumu Furuya was a hair&rsquo;s breadth behind in third, his 13.31 an Asian U20 record.
&ldquo;I never thought I would actually get gold until I got here,&rdquo; said Krah. &ldquo;It feels great to finish one and two with my teammate.&rdquo;
While the US may have won the overall war in the sprint events on Thursday night, close rivals Jamaica gained victory in one major battle.
They had never won the women&rsquo;s 400m title at this championships, but Tiffany James ended that drought with a composed, courageous display of one-lap running.
The 19-year-old clocked 51.32 to take victory, the fastest time in the world by an U20 athlete this year, marginally in front of Lynna Irby of USA (51.39) and Jamaican teammate Junelle Bromfield (52.05).
&ldquo;It was my goal since the start of the season,&rdquo; said James. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had bad seasons in recent years so I said coming into this year I want to get that gold. I don&rsquo;t want to say I surprised myself because I work hard and I expected that.&rdquo;
<h3>Martinez magnificent in triple jump</h3>
Cuba continued their dominance in the horizontal jumps as Lazaro Martinez took the men&rsquo;s triple jump title in 17.06m, the longest jump in the world by an U20 athlete this year. His closest challenger &ndash; who, to be frank, was not very close at all &ndash; was teammate Cristian Napoles, who took silver in 16.62m. France&rsquo;s Melvin Raffin took third with a best of 16.37m.
&ldquo;I wanted to beat the world U20 record [17.50m],&rdquo; said Martinez. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s within my reach, but for now, Cuba won what everybody expected, gold and silver.&rdquo;
The women's pole vault was won in a championship record of 4.55m by Angelica Moser of Switzerland. Moser topped 4.40m, 4.45m, and 4.50m with her first attempts, the latter to equal the championship record held jointly by 2012 winner Angelica Bengtsson and 2014 champion Alena Lutkovskaya.
She then followed up with first attempt success at 4.55m, also on her first try, to seal the victory, take sole possession of the competition record, and move up to No. six on the all-time U20 list. "I thought I could vault high here but there were three other girls with better season&rsquo;s bests, so I wasn&rsquo;t sure if I could win," said Moser. "I often set my best marks in major championships and I did it again here."
Silver went to Venezuala's Robeilys Peinado with a best of 4.40m, beating bronze medallist Wilma Murto on countback.&nbsp;
<h3>Taki takes gold with diving finish</h3>
The most dramatic finish of the night came in the men&rsquo;s 1500m as Kumari Taki demonstrated just how much it means to win a world title, the Kenyan diving forward over the line and slamming into the track as he took gold in 3:48.63.
Taki charged to the front with 200 metres to run and it was a lead he never relinquished, his legs carrying him to the line &ndash; just &ndash; to take gold ahead of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Taresa Tolosa in 3:48.77. &ldquo;I knew that the Ethiopian had a stronger kick than me so I had to dive at the line,&rdquo; said Taki. &ldquo;I made it.&rdquo;
Kenya&rsquo;s Anthony Kiptoo came home third in 3:49.00, with France&rsquo;s Baptiste Mischler fading to fourth near the finish in 3:49.52.
In the women's discus, Kristina Rakocevic earned Montenegro's second gold medal in the history of the World U20 Championships, her third-round throw of 56.36m giving her gold by a wide margin ahead of Australia&rsquo;s Kirsty Williams, who threw a PB of 53.91m to finish second.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing,&rdquo; said Rakocevic. &ldquo;It is the best achievement of my life.&rdquo;
Moldova&rsquo;s Alexandra Emilianov took third in 53.08m, while Serena Brown set a Bahamian U20 record of 52.73m in fourth.
After four events of the women&rsquo;s heptathlon, Cuba&rsquo;s Adriana Rodriguez has a comfortable lead over Austria&rsquo;s Sarah Lagger. Rodriguez had a best of 12.65m in the shot put this evening and clocked a lifetime best of 23.95 in the 200m to give herself an overnight tally of 3691 after four events.
Lagger shot up the standings during the evening session, her 13.09m shot put moving her up to third before a 24.93 200m moved her up to second and she will head to day two on 3510 points. Sweden&rsquo;s Bianca Salming is third on 3441, just ahead of Canada&rsquo;s Nina Schultz on 3437.
Belgium&rsquo;s Hanne Maudens is currently in eighth position on 3369 points, but is expected to move up the standings and announce herself as a medal contender on day two.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

US sprint sensation Candace Hill’s championship record of 11.07 (0.9m/s) to take the women’s 100m title was the undoubted highlight on the third evening of action at the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 on Thursday (21).

Hill a champion once again as US dominate day three in Bydgoszcz

A US-dominated 800m final seemed a likelihood based on the outcome of the heats and semifinals and so it played out with Samantha Watson and Aaliyah Miller taking the country&rsquo;s first ever one-two in event history.
Watson and Miller said they were aiming to fill the top two spots on the podium, but team tactics were not on play, in spite of the end result. &ldquo;All we talked about before the race was that we need to get gold and silver,&rdquo; said Miller.
Watson found herself boxed in as Bahrain&rsquo;s Marta Hirpato led a tightly bunched pack through the bell in a sluggish 63.53. But the 16-year-old Watson, who ran negative splits to comfortably win her semifinal, did the same in the final.
The world U18 champion from Cali last year boasts sub-53-second pace over 400m and she quickly made up the ground on Kenya&rsquo;s Betty Sigei, who attacked hard with 200 metres remaining, before loping clear in the home straight.
Watson, who is eligible to defend her title in 2018, crossed the finish-line in 2:04.52 with Miller coming hard down the outside for silver in 2:05.06. After front running yesterday&rsquo;s semifinals, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Ketema adopted a more conservative game plan tonight to claim bronze in 2:05.13.
&ldquo;I feel great, all the training has really paid off,&rdquo; said Watson. &ldquo;I always give it all I&rsquo;ve got &ndash; I just want to get to the finish line first really badly.&rdquo;
The pace Watson demonstrated through the rounds will undoubtedly be an asset to the USA in the 4x400m who will be without their star performer Sydney McLaughlin.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping for another medal there,&rdquo; she said.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

A US-dominated 800m final seemed a likelihood based on the outcome of the heats and semifinals and so it played out with Samantha Watson and Aaliyah Miller taking the country’s first ever one-two in event history.

Report: women's 800m – IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016

Qualification was a formality for reigning shot put champion Konrad Bukowiecki on the first morning of the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 on Tuesday (19).
Bukowiecki is arguably the hottest favourite of the entire championships and the 19-year-old was already on his way back to the team hotel a little before 10am after sailing beyond the automatic qualifying mark of 19.40m with his first throw of 21.73m &ndash; a mark which is unsurpassed by any other U20 athlete this year.
If Bukowiecki is a lock for the title, Romania&rsquo;s Andrei Toader is a solid bet for the silver medal as the 19-year-old, who recently finished sixth at the European Championships, also sealed the qualifying mark with his first throw of 21.26m.
Nobody else surpassed the 20-metre line across the two pools.
Bukowiecki said at yesterday&rsquo;s press conference he was riled by finishing fourth at both the World Indoor Championships and European Championships and while he outlined that defending his title is his top priority, the Pole could challenge the world U20 record of 23.00m in the process.
<h3>World U18 champions impress on the track</h3>
Caroline Chepteek Chespol&rsquo;s winning time in the second heat of the 3000m steeplechase wasn&rsquo;t the fastest of the day but the world U18 champion looked mightily impressive as she broke clear from a pack including 9:41 performer Anna Emilie Moller from Denmark after the first kilometre.
Chespol crossed the finish-line in 9:55.21 to finish 10 seconds ahead of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Asimarech Naga (10:05.71) and Moller (10:06.26).
Her principal title challengers all qualified from the first heat which was won by Bahrain&rsquo;s Tigist Getnet in 9:54.65 ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Betty Chepkemei (9:54.65) and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Agrie Belachew (9:54.84) who both set sizeable lifetime bests in their first races at sea level.
World U18 champion Kumari Taki showed good finishing pace in the 1500m heats to qualify as a heat winner in 3:47.14 along with Morocco&rsquo;s Ayoub Sniba (3:44.59) and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Taresa Tolosa (3:46.13).
Other noteworthy qualifiers included European junior champion Joshua Kerr from Great Britain in the first heat in 3:44.86, European youth 3000m champion Elzan Bibic from Serbia in the second heat in 3:47.72 and 15-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen &ndash; the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen brothers &ndash; from the third heat in 3:46.53.
Samantha Watson was another of the world U18 champions from Cali in action this morning and the 16-year-old qualified comfortably for the 800m semifinals in 2:07.30. The heats were led by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Ketema in 2:05.51.
<h3>Lyles and Tortu fastest in 100m heats</h3>
Noah Lyles just missed out on a place on the US Olympic Team in the 200m but the 19-year-old eased to the fastest time of the day in the 100m heats of 10.28 ahead of the highly rated Italian Filippo Tortu (10.29) and Brazil&rsquo;s Paulo Andre de Oliveira (10.31).
USA&rsquo;s Ja&rsquo;Mari Ward was on the cusp of elimination after two rounds in long jump qualifying but he pulled out a lifetime best of 7.96m on his third jump to lead the qualifiers while Turkey&rsquo;s Eda Tugsuz led the qualifiers for the women&rsquo;s javelin final with 57.77m.
After three events in the decathlon, Maksim Andraloitis of Belarus leads with 2519 ahead of the Netherlands&rsquo; Riik Taam (2468) and Estonia&rsquo;s Johannes Erm (2456). Although he is currently down in 15th place, Germany&rsquo;s world U18 champion Niklas Kaul has all of his best events yet to come and will be in contention for gold during the latter stages of the competition.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

Qualification was a formality for reigning shot put champion Konrad Bukowiecki on the first morning of the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 on Tuesday (19).

Bukowiecki one step closer to retaining title after impressing on first morning in Bydgoszcz

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

With an inspiring display of grit, tactical prowess and sheer determination, USA&rsquo;s Samantha Watson captured an unexpected gold in the girls' 800m at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Sunday (19).The US youth champion, still just 15, prevailed in the fiercest battle down the home straight of these championships as she fought off Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gadese Ejara&rsquo;s late challenge to win in 2:03.54, a lifetime best and the second gold in the event for the US in these championships&rsquo; past three editions.&ldquo;It was a very hard race,&rdquo; said Watson, whose best coming into Cali was 2:04.27. &ldquo;I had to fight a lot.&rdquo;This assessment was almost an understatement if you watched the lanky teenager from Rochester, New York drop to her knees on the track just moments after crossing the finish, drained completely from her brave effort over the final 100 metres but she was seemingly determined to not let anyone else control the race as it steadily unfolded.Ethiopia&rsquo;s Foziya Niguse and Italy&rsquo;s Marta Zenoni took to the front after the break from the stagger, but Watson immediately tucked in right behind the pair. The pace slowed through the end of the first half with Niguse leading the pack through the bell in 1:03.06. Niguse upped the tempo but the order remained the same until the leaders approached the final bend, when Watson bolted into the lead, dropping Niguse, but instead dragging along her team-mate Ejara.Watson built a three-metre gap midway round the final bend, but Ejara cut that in half some 60 metres from the finish before Watson, sensing her rival&rsquo;s surge behind her, reacted with one of her own.Ejara crossed the line in 2:03.67, also a personal best, to capture a second successive silver for Ethiopia. Slight pre-race favourite Zenoni, who fell back dramatically over the final bend, battled back in the waning stages to take the bronze in 2:04.15. Further back, Great Britain&rsquo;s Carys McAuley edged Niguse by a scant 0.01 in 2:05.31 to finish fourth. Both girls ran personal bests.Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

With an inspiring display of grit, tactical prowess and sheer determination, USA’s Samantha Watson captured an unexpected gold in the girl’s 800m at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Sunday (19).