Okon and Almayev record impressive wins on Day 3 of U20 World Championships in Lima

This is Justin Lagat’s column on Day 3 of the 2024 World U20 Athletics Championships. Justin provides RunBlogRun readers with a daily column about the exciting World U 20s, which you can watch on the Peacock every session.

In another exciting night of athletics on Day 3 of the Wu20 Championships at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna, Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayu won the women’s 3000m race to put his country on top of the medal table ahead of South Africa’s Udeme Okon in the men’s race. 400m final, dropping Australia further down the medal table to third.

Uganda’s Chekwemoy ensured it was a tough run from the start of the women’s 3000m steeplechase final as she powered through the first 1000m in 3:05.00. Soon, two Ethiopians, one Kenyan and one Ugandan remained among the leaders.

Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayu and Uganda’s Lois Chekwemoi dropped out in the final 1000m to battle for the top two medals, while Kenya’s Diana Chepkemoi was in no-man’s land as she struggled to grab bronze in a hot pursuit with Firehivot Gesese.

In a new championship record of 9:12.71, Almayu won the race, followed by Chekwemoy in a new personal best of 9:18.84, a reward for setting the pace. Also in a new PB, Chepkemoy finished third in 9:29.84.

The men’s 3000m flat race was a straight final and runners were hesitant to enter the race at first. The first 1000m, clocked in at 3:10.00, was interestingly slower than the women’s 3000m run. It was a 1000m run and a brutal 2000m race.

The last half of the race was dangerously crowded, fast and characterized by many shocks. At the bell two Kenyans were leading but were soon swallowed up by a huge pack on the back straight. Norway’s Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen made the strongest push to cross the finish line first in 8:20.56. Kenya’s Dennis Kipkoch followed with a silver medal in 8:20.79, while Edward Bird ran 8:21.00 to take the bronze medal.

Both the women’s and men’s 400m were presented as the final events of the evening. Lourdes Manuel of the Czech Republic won gold in the women’s race with a time of 51.29, ahead of Canada’s Diana Proctor in 51.98 and Zaya Akins of the United States in 52.00.

In the men’s race, South Africa’s OKon won in 45.69, ahead of Jayden Davis (46.08) and Sidi Njie (46.29), both of the United States.

In the first final of the day, Lousif Kesidis won the first medal for Cyprus in the men’s hammer throw (6kg). It was a gold medal with a world under-20 leading mark of 82.80m. Hungary’s Ronald Imre and Armin Shabados won the silver and bronze medals after throwing 75.33m and 74.88m respectively. These were also the first medals for Hungary in the championships.

USA’s Molly Haywood cleared a new personal best of 4.47m to win the women’s pole vault, beating Austria’s Magdalena Rauter and Australia’s Tryphena Hewett, who both cleared 4.15m for the silver and bronze medals respectively.

In his fifth attempt, New Zealand’s Ethan Olivier jumped a new under-20 area record of 17.01m to win the men’s triple jump. USA’s Carson Gordaon settled for silver with a PB of 16.74. Also in a new PB in 16.30, China’s Yinglon Ma took bronze.

Slovenia’s Tom Tersek won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw, registering 76.81m. China’s Xiaobo Wang threw 75.50m to win the silver medal, ahead of Ireland’s Oisin Joyce, who set a new age-20 record of 73.89m to win the bronze medal.

Some exciting semi-final events now leave fans with high anticipation for the final.

Watching Tori Lewis, the Oceania champion, Xiamen Diamond League winner and three-time Australian national champion, in the women’s 200m semi-finals showed the depth of the Under-20 athletes in Lima. She won the third and final round, while her compatriot Jessica Milat won the first round.

South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza returned to the men’s 200m semi-finals after winning gold in the 100m the previous day, and he ran the fastest qualifying time in his heat. He’s going to be one of the big stars in the league.