5 records broken at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships ft. Women's 3000m Steeplechase

The World Athletics Junior U20 Championships recently concluded in Lima, Peru. Initially named the World Junior Championships in Athletics, the event has been conducted under its present moniker since 1986, with the first edition in Athens, Greece.

The World Athletics Junior U20 Championships has seen champions like Ato Boldon, Usain Bolt, Valerie Allman, Neeraj Chopra, and Noah Lyles emerge onto the international scene, and the current edition continued in the same vein.

Athletes from South Africa created a unique record by winning all the sprinting events in the men's category, viz. the 100m, the 200m, and the 400m. Bayanda Walaza achieved a "golden double" by winning both the 100m and the 200m gold medals for South Africa.

Several records were broken at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships held in Lima. Four new Championship records were established, while three continental records were broken in the men's triple jump, the men's 10k racewalk, and the mixed 4x400m relay. Eight new national U20 records were established at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships 2024.

Here are some of the records broken at the World Athletics Junior U-20 Championships:

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5 records broken at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships ft. Women's 3000m Steeplechase

#5) Men's Triple Jump - Ethan Olivier [New Zealand]

Ethan Olivier making his attempt at the 2024 Paris Olympics [Source: Getty]

While the triple jumper from New Zealand didn't break any Championship record, he created a new Oceania U20 record with his best attempt of 17.01m in the finals of the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships.

The championship record for this event is held by Jaydon Hibbert of Jamaica, who jumped a distance of 17.22m at the 2022 Championships in Cali, Colombia.

#4) Men's 10km Racewalk - Rayen Cherni [Tunisia]

Rayen Cherni of Tunisia after breaking the Championship record in the Men's 10000m race walk at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships [Image Source: X@WorldAthletics ]

Rayen Cherni of Tunisia broke the decade-old record set in the 10,000m by Daisuke Matsunaga of Japan at the 2014 edition. Cherni finished the race in 39 minutes, 24.85s.

In doing so, Cherni became only the second African after Heristone Wanyoyi of Kenya to win the gold medal in the 10,000m race walk at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships.

#3) Men's Decathlon - Tomas Jarvinen [Czech Republic]

Tomas Jarvinen after winning the Men's Decathlon at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships at Lima [Image Source: X @WorldAthletics]

Tomas Jarvinen of Czechia was on the brink of breaking the world under 20 record set by Niklaus Kaul of Germany, who had collected 8435 points at the European U20 Championships in Italy in 2017. However, Jarvinen ended up missing the mark, though by a mere 10 points.

Nevertheless, Jarvinen's total of 8425 points is a new Championship record, the previous record being held by Ashley Moloney of Australia with 8190 points at Tampere, Finland in 2018.

#2) Women's 5000m - Medina Eisa [Ethiopia]

Medina Eisa of Ethiopia after breaking the Championship record at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships in Lima [Image Source: World Athletics' X account]

Medina Eisa of Ethiopia not only defended her gold medal from the 2022 edition of the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships held at Cali in Colombia but also created a new championship record.

Eisa clocked 14 minutes, 39.71s, breaking the 14-year-old Championship record of 15:8.06 set by compatriot Genzebe Dibaba at the 2010 edition held in Barcelona, Spain.

#1) Women's 3000m Steeplechase - Sembo Almayew [Ethiopia]

Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia in action at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships in Lima [Image Source : X@WorldAthletics]

Sembo Almayew won a silver medal at the 2022 edition of the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships in the women's 3000m steeplechase event. Also, she missed the Olympic podium at the recently concluded Paris Olympics by a whisker, finishing fifth overall.

However, at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships, Almayew gave it her all as she broke the previous Championship record of 9 minutes, 12.78 seconds, to win the race with a new record of 9:12.71.