The Lima 24 World Athletics U20 Championships will take place from August 27 to 31. More than 1,700 athletes from 134 teams will take part.
Here we take a look at the long-distance action at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
800 m women
Kenya’s Sarah Moraa is aiming to follow in her cousin Mary’s footsteps and win the 800m world title. Mary Moraa finished fifth at these championships in 2018 and won the 800m world title at senior level in 2023. She is mentoring her 18-year-old cousin Sarah, who finished third at Kenya’s Olympic qualifiers in June, improving her personal best to 1:59.39.
Moraa is the second fastest in the field in terms of personal bests. The field is led by Australian Claudia Hollingsworth, who broke the national under-20 800m record with a time of 1:58.40 in April and won the Australian senior women’s title before heading to the Paris Olympics, where she reached the semi-finals of the 800m.
Sophia Gorriaran is also likely to be in the fight for a medal: The 19-year-old American equaled her personal best time of 2:00.65 in May and took seventh place in the semifinals of the US Olympic qualifying heats in June.
Japan’s Rin Kubo is one of the country’s most promising young talents. At just 16 years old, she ran a time of 1:59.93 in Nara last month and could make a name for herself on the international stage with a medal here. Malin Hoelsveen from Norway, Jana Marie Becker from Germany and Ngalula Gloria Kabangu from Italy are also likely to be strong contenders.
800 m, men
Australian Peyton Craig leads the 2024 U20 world rankings with the Oceania record of 1:44.12, which he ran in Vienna in June. The 19-year-old athlete from Queensland later competed in the Paris Olympic Games, running the 1500m at the last edition of these championships in 2022.
Czech Jakub Dudycha is the U20 European champion. The 18-year-old broke the Czech senior record in June with a time of 1:44.82 and made his Olympic debut in the 800 m in Paris.
Japan’s Ko Ochiai is the Asian U20 champion, breaking the national U20 record with a time of 1:45.82 in Niigata in June, which he improved to 1:44.80 in late July. Ethiopia’s General Berhanu Ayansa has a best of 1:45.45 and is certainly in the running for a medal, while Hatim Ait Oulghazi of Qatar, Kelvin Kimutai Koech of Kenya and Daniel Watcke of the USA are among those who have run under 1:47 and should also be in the running.
1500 m, women
Ethiopia’s Saron Berhe is the clear favorite for the title, with her personal best time eight seconds faster than that of her nearest competitor on the entry list. The 17-year-old won the African title in June and broke four minutes for the first time in April at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China, with a time of 3:59.21. She will be joined by fellow countrywoman Tsige Teshome, who won silver at the Ethiopian U20 Championships last month.
Germany’s Jolanda Kallabis has made huge progress this year, improving her personal best to 4:07.55 in May. Britain’s Ava Lloyd (4:12.07), Norway’s Malin Hoelsveen (4:12.17) and Denmark’s Sofia Thogersen (4:12.95) are the others on the list of competitors who have run under 4:15.
1500 m, men
Australia’s rising star Cameron Myers has put together another strong season and the 18-year-old looks capable of capping it off with a U20 world title in Lima. He missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics after finishing fifth at the national championships in Adelaide, then ran a mile in 3:50.15 at the Eugene Diamond League, breaking the national U20 record.
But to win in Lima he will have to beat Ethiopia’s Abdisa Fayisa, who tops the list with a time of 3:32.37 with which he won the Ethiopian Olympic qualifiers in Nerja, Spain, in June. Fayisa then competed in the Paris Olympics, finishing 14th in the 1500m heats and 10th in the repechage.
Norway is very well represented in this competition at senior level, and the same is true for the U20 category. Hakon Moeberg and Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen both have the potential to be medal contenders, having run 3:37.25 and 3:38.32 this year. Kenya’s Josphat Kipkirui and Ethiopia’s Sendel Musa have both run sub-3:40, as has Britain’s George Couttie.
3000 m women
You have to go back to 2016 to find the last Ethiopian winner of this title, but it would be a surprise if the long-distance superpower did not reclaim the crown this year. Aleshign Baweke and Marta Alemayo top the entry lists with 8:41.10 and 8:45.40 respectively. Both of these times were run at high altitude in Hawassa, which put them in the lead at the Ethiopian U20 Championships. Alemayo showed her strength in June in Liège, Belgium, running 5000m in 14:39.61.
Among the competitors are three other women who have run sub-nine minutes: Sofia Thogersen from Denmark, Amy Bunnage from Australia and Innes Fitzgerald from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Thogersen won silver in the 1500m and 5000m at the U20 European Championships last year and ran her personal best in the 3000m of 8:50.26 indoors in Metz, France, in February.
3000 m, men
The Kenyan duo of Clinton Kimutai Ngetich and Denis Kipkoech will be hard to beat. Australian Cameron Myers leads the field with his personal best of 7:46.38, but he is expected to focus exclusively on the 1500m in Lima, with Ngetich (7:48.09) and Kipkoech (7:48.48) the next fastest.
Ethiopians Ybeltal Gashahun and Abrha Gebru finished 1st and 2nd in their national U20 trials. In the thin air of Hawassa they achieved times of 7:58.70 and 7:59.00. Both were personal bests, but it is likely that both can be significantly faster at sea level.
Norwegian Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen and Dutchman Juan Zijderlaan both ran 7:51 and should also fight for a place in the top five alongside Briton Henry Dover, who has a personal best of 7:57.47.
5000 m women
Ethiopia seems to have the strongest cards in this event, as there are only two athletes in the entire field who ran under 15 minutes: Medina Eisa and Mekedes Alemeshete.
Eisa will be the favourite to defend her title, having clocked 14:16.54 in London last year – the fastest time ever run by an under-20 athlete. She finished seventh in the 5000m at the last Olympic Games in Paris and took an impressive 5000m victory at the Marrakech Diamond League in May. Alemeshete will likely be the biggest threat, having clocked 14:36.70 to win the Suzhou Diamond League in April.
Australia’s Amy Bunnage has a personal best of 15:11.68, run indoors in Seattle in February, and the Stanford University student will fancy herself in with a good chance if she can match her best. Kenya’s Sheila Jebet ran her personal best of 15:20.48 in Italy in May and should also be in contention alongside teammate Mercy Chepkemoi, Britain’s Innes Fitzgerald and the Japanese duo of Kana Mizumoto and Yuumi Yamamoto.
5000 m, men
Kenyan Andrew Kiptoo Alamisi tops the list of competitors with a time of 13:05.55, which he ran in Italy in early June. However, at the Kenyan U20 Trials a few weeks later, he was beaten by Ishmail Rokitto Kipkurui, the 2023 U20 Cross Country World Champion, who ran a time of 13:05.47 last year and finished a fine 10th in the 5000m World Final in Budapest. The two athletes seem to be the ones to beat.
Burundian Emilie Hafashimana has had a strong season, improving the national U20 record to 13:15.24 in France in July and setting a national U20 record over 10,000 m with 27:47.88 in London in May.
Ethiopian pair Nibret Kinde and Sewmehon Anteneh are also expected to be in contention, while Samuel Simba Cherop of Uganda, Desire Niyomwungere of Burundi and John Nahhay Wele of Tanzania are also among the potential medalists.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
