Five records broken at World Athletics U20 Championships

The World Athletics U20 Championships concluded on Saturday in Lima, Peru.

Initially named the World Junior Championships in Athletics, the event has been held under its current name since 1986, with the first edition taking place in Athens, Greece.

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

Athletes from South Africa set a unique record by winning all the sprint events in the men's category: the 100m, 200m, and 400m.

Bayanda Walaza achieved a "golden double" by winning both the 100m and 200m gold medals for South Africa.

Several records were broken in Lima.

Four new championship records were set, and three continental records were broken in the men's triple jump, the men's 10km race walk, and the mixed 4x400m relay.

Additionally, eight new national U20 records were established at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships.

World Champs U20: Serem, Kosgei win gold and silver for Kenya in steeplechase [VIDEO]

Here are some of the records broken at the World Athletics U20 Championships

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

While Ethan Olivier from New Zealand didn't break a championship record, he set a new Oceania U20 record with his best attempt of 17.01m in the finals.

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 Race Walk - Rayen Cherni [Tunisia]

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

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

Kipkoech, Chepkemoi bag more medals for Kenya in Lima

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

Tomas Jarvinen of the Czech Republic was close to breaking the world U20 record set by Niklas Kaul of Germany, who scored 8,435 points at the European U20 Championships in Italy in 2017. However, Jarvinen narrowly missed the mark, finishing with 8,425 points.

Nevertheless, Jarvinen's total of 8,425 points is a new championship record, surpassing the previous record of 8,190 points set by Ashley Moloney of Australia in Tampere, Finland, in 2018.

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

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

Eisa clocked 14 minutes, 39.71 seconds, breaking the 14-year-old championship record of 15:08.06 set by compatriot Genzebe Dibaba at the 2010 edition held in Moncton, Canada.

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

Sembo Almayew, who won a silver medal at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in the women's 3000m steeplechase, narrowly missed the Olympic podium at the Paris Olympics, finishing fifth overall.

However, at the World Athletics U20 Championships, Almayew broke the previous championship record of 9 minutes, 12.78 seconds, winning the race with a new record of 9:12.71.

Additionally reporting by Sportskeeda