What to Watch for in the Final Three Days at the 2024 World U20 Champs
Australian 1500 phenom Cameron Myers headlines the action
By Joseph Carroll and Harper Clark
Some of the world’s brightest young stars have descended upon Lima, Peru, to showcase their talents at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships. While two days of action are in the books, there are still three more final-heavy days to come, including the men’s 1500 meters, which is headlined by 18-year-old 3:33 man Cameron Myers of Australia. Here’s your guide to final three days of the meet.
Men’s 800: 1:44 men Peyton Craig & Ko Ochiai battle it out
Final: Friday, 5:35 p.m. ET
There are wo men in this field that have run under 1:45. The first is Peyton Craig of Australia, who made the Olympic semi-final and was 6th, missing out on the final. Craig was third at his national championships and won the Oceania championships before the Games. He is in great form, running 1:44.11 in the semis in Paris just weeks ago.
The other is Ko Ochiai of Japan. Ochiai, who only just turned 18, was the Japanese champ back in June and ran a 1:44.80 national record in July at the national high school championships. Ochiai has slashed over three seconds from his 800 in the last year.
Other notable athletes are Daniel Watcke of the U.S., who runs for Villanova, and General Berhanu Ayansa of Ethiopia, who was the Ethiopian U20 champion.
Men’s 1500: Cameron Myers goes for gold
Final: Saturday, 7:20 p.m. ET
On paper, there are two breakaway athletes here with Abdisa Fayisa of Ethiopia and Cameron Myers of Australia, who have ventured under 3:33.50 (the Olympic standard), well ahead of the field.
Fayisa is the Ethiopian trials champ but struggled in the Olympics, finishing 12th in the first round before finishing 10th in the gulag (repechage) round. He got second in the 5,000 in Lima on Tuesday and is 24th-quickest in the world this year over 1500 at 3:32.37.
Fayisa’s biggest rival figures to be the Australian wonderkid Myers. Last year, as a 16-year-old, Myers became the second-youngest person to break 4:00 in the mile (only Jakob Ingebrigtsen was younger). This year, at 17, Myers was 5th at the Australian championships and was in the mix for Olympic selection, but ultimately not selected. He ran 3:50.15 back in May for the full mile at Pre Classic and ran 3:50.16 at London DL in July (he turned 18 in June). He has had a long year however, and has been racing since January.
Other top contenders are Andreas Fjelf Halvorsen and Håkon Moe Berg, who were third and fourth at the Norwegian champs, Jacob Sande of Uganda who won his national championships back in June, and Josphat Kipkirui of Kenya who trains with Emmanuel Wanyonyi and was second at the Kenyan championships.
Men’s 3000: Norway v Kenya
Final: Thursday, 7:17 p.m. ET
The Kenyan duo of Clinton Kimutai Ngetich and Denis Kipkoech, both boast sub-7:50 personal bests in 7:48.09 and 7:48.48, respectively. But the fastest pb in the field belongs to Norway’s Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen (7:47.04), who is doubling in Lima and will be running this between the prelims and final of the 1500.
Men’s 3000 Steeple: Kenya expected to go 1-2
Final: Saturday, 6:16 p.m. ET
The men’s 3k steeple should be a two-man race between Kenyans Matthew Kosgei and Edmund Serem. The pair are the top two seeds and 10 seconds clear of the field with times of 8:21.98 and 8:20.05. Serem owns a 3-1 record against him Kosgei all-time. Kosgei beat him by 13 seconds at the Kip Keino Classic in their first meeting in April, but at the Kenyan Olympic trials, Serem (4th place) torched Kosgei (6th place) 8:24.50 vs. 8:35.76. Serem would then earn narrow victories (less than two seconds) at the African Athletics Championships and Kenyan U20 trials. The last two races between the pair have been incredibly close and there is no reason to expect anything different here. The third and fourth fastest entrants are Soma Nagahara (8:32.12) and Tetsu Sasaki (8:37.23) of Japan.
Women’s 800: Australian Olympian Hollingsworth faces Sarah Moraa
Final: Friday, 5:50 p.m. ET
Claudia Hollingsworth enters as the lone Olympian having represented Australia in Paris just 24 days ago. The 19-year-old boasts a 1:58.40 personal best, ahead of Kenya’s Sarah Moraa (Mary Moraa’s cousin), who finished 3rd at the Kenyan trials, running 1:59.39 back in June, and Rin Kubo, the 16-year-old who clocked the first sub-2 in Japanese history earlier this summer. Joining those three atop the entries is Sophia Gorriaran of the United States, the Harvard standout won the US U20 title this summer and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She has run 2:00.65 this year, just 0.07 shy of her personal best from high school.
Women’s 1500: Ethiopia is formidable
Final: Saturday, 6:00 p.m. ET
In terms of personal bests, Ethiopia’s Saron Berhe clears this field, having run 3:59.21 in Xiamen to kick off her outdoor campaign in April. Jolanda Kallabis of Germany maintains the second-fastest entry time, coming in with a 4:07.44 personal best. Tsegie Teshome will look to join her countrywoman on the podium as well as the 17-year-old finished in second at the Ethiopian U20 championships, ahead of Behre who finished in 3rd.
Women’s Steeple: Almayew should dominate
Final: Thursday, 6:37 p.m. ET
Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew should have no trouble upgrading her U20 silver from 2022 this time around, she enters with a personal best 20+ seconds faster than the next entrant and recently finished in 5th at the Paris Olympics. Joining Almayew on the line will be Firehiwot Gesese of Ethiopia and Uganda’s Loice Chekwemoi, both women boasting sub-9:30 personal bests. Outside of the clear top 3, the next fastest entrant is Kenya’s Diana Chepkemoi at 9:39.57.
Women’s 3000: Watch out for 16-year-old phenom Marta Alemayo
Final: Friday, 6:45 p.m. ET
The trend continues as Ethiopia boasts the two fastest entrants in the 3000: Aleshign Baweke and Marta Alemayo, who come in at 8:41.10 and 8:45.40, respectively. Alemayo won the U20 race at World XC in March at just 15 years old and could be a superstar in the making. Behind the Ethiopian pair is Denmark’s Sofia Thøgersen, who ran 8:50.26 indoors.
Best of the Rest
Here are a few things to look out for outside of the distance events.
NCAA second placer and freshman sensation Ja’Kobe Tharp of Auburn will be racing the 110 hurdles. He was the heavy favorite at the NCAAs and lost narrowly to Darius Luff of Nebraska, who had a breakout race. Tharp will be coming in as a big medal favorite and as the top seed. His main competition will be the Finnish and Nordic champion Rasmus Vehmaa, who comes in .01 behind Tharp at 13.13.
In the women’s 400 there are two Olympic semi-finalists in Lurdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic and Ella Onojuvwevwo of Nigeria, who are the top two seeds in the event with 50.52 and 50.57 seeds respectively.
The men’s jumps have a ton of Olympic firepower as well with Jaydon Hibbert of Jamaica, who was a narrow fourth-place finisher in the triple jump and is the reigning world U20 champion and record holder. The men’s long jump features Mattia Furlani of Italy, who took home bronze in the long jump in Paris and is the 2022 European U20 champion. The pair will come into the events as heavy favorites and the top seeds.
