Aside from being Olympic champions, what do Letsile Tebogo, Neeraj Chopra, Faith Kipyegon,
Usain Bolt, and Armand Duplantis have in common?
They all first rose to prominence at the World
Athletics U20 Championships.
The biennial junior competition is often the first global stage for many talents who could go on to become track & field’s biggest stars.
This year’s edition will be held in Lima, Peru this week, with India sending a 43-strong contingent to follow a great campaign in 2022.
From Seema Punia to Hima Das to Neeraj Chopra, the U20 Worlds have set the stage for some of
India’s biggest revelations in the sport of athletics.
This year’s edition gives us another chance to see some of the nation’s best young talent in action and potentially identify stars for the future.
There are many exciting Indian talents to watch this week, but also from around the world.
So, who is best placed within their fields heading into the Championships? Neeru Pathak (W400m)
has big shoes to fill after Rupal’s bronze in 2022, but she could be on the cusp of the final if she
can improve upon her current best of 52.78s for the lap.
Bapi Handsa (M400m) is another talented
quarter-miler many were excited to see in action, but a recent bout of dengue has left the extent
of his participation in doubt.
He could still feature in the relays though, and is one to watch for the future.
All 3 Racewalkers – Himanshu & Sachin on the men’s side with Aarti their female counterpart – could push for top 10 finishes at their best.
But the top individual performers to keep an eye on are Murad Sirman (M400mH) on the men’s side and Ekta Dey (W3000mSC).
Murad’s PB of 50.60s puts him just outside the top 10 entrants in his event, so a spot in final
might be within the youngster’s reach.
Ekta set the NU20 record this year with a 10:10 clocking which should see her capable of not only making the final, but perhaps even aiming for a top 6 finish if she can break the 10-minute barrier.
A medal will likely be out of reach, however, as the
top 4 in the event are in a league of their own, led by the outstanding Sembo Almayew (ETH) who
was 5th at the Olympics!
Ekta will have high hopes though, after winning Asian U20 gold this year. Ekta is not the only one coming off great success at the Asian U20 Championships earlier this season, where India won 7 golds.
Those also competing in Lima will be Ranvir Singh
(M3000mSC), Anurag Singh (M Shot Put), Dipanshu Sharma (M Javelin), the W4x400m Relay
team, and Pavana Nagaraj (W Long Jump).
It is worth noting that we will have two athletes
making their 2nd WU20 Champs appearances, Laxita Sandilea (W800m/1500) and Unnathi
Bolland (W100mH/200).
Of particular interest in this group are the steeplechasers and the throwers. Dipanshu and Rohan Yadav took the top 2 Javelin spots at the Asian U20s and Anurag was also joined by Siddharth Choudhary for a double podium in the Shot Put.
Meanwhile, both Ekta and Ranvir took dominant wins in the steeplechases. While their success was were very encouraging, wins at the Asian champs may not translate to medals at the Worlds this week,
given the talent coming together from across the globe.
Having said that, India’s relay teams are certainly worth watching in Lima. We have a rare chance
to see a W4x100m quartet take to the track for India, while the 4x400s have become one of
India’s strongest athletics events in recent years. Neeru Pahtak will likely be added to the W4x400
quartet that won Asian U20 gold this year and she will hope to take them to a Worlds final this
week.
The men’s team could be affected by Bapi Handsa’s dengue illness, but they enter ranked 4th on their SB of 3:09.36, which they actually ran without Handsa for 2nd at the Asian U20s.
The podium will be a bridge too far, but the option to also add Murad’s hurdle strength makes this a
very exciting relay team to keep an eye on.
Handsa might be missed in the Mixed quartet who won Asian U20 silver, but this quartet could potentially be India’s best shot at a medal if bolstered by a Pahtak on top form.
India won Silver in the event last time around in what I reckon was our best ever World U20s performance (barring Neeraj’s record of course).
While this team is not quite as strong on paper, the defending champions USA have not entered the event.
Still, a medal will be tough, with some very strong squads in the mix, but a top 5 finish for India could be on the cards with the right race.
While there are a lot of exciting athletes to follow in Lima, and promising Indian talent to support, I
do want to temper expectations and point out that India might leave these Championships
without a medal in what would be the first time since a decade ago.
But it will be nonetheless be fantastic to watch. We need to support young Indian talent to help them develop, and the primary outcome from Lima is the exposure and experience that the athletes can benefit from.
It’s also worth highlighting a few global talents to look out for in Lima as the rising stars of the
sport. Jaydon Hibbert (JAM) will be at his 3rd WU20 Champs, looking to defend his triple jump
title while also competing in the long jump.
The 19-year-old is already a remarkable triple jumper who finished 4th in Paris and holds the WU20 Record in the event, and he’s not terribly far from 18m.
Joining him in the Long Jump though is Mattia Furlani (ITA), something of a prodigy himself,
who only took up the event in 2022 and already has an Olympic medal to his name!
Another jumper to watch out for is Angelina Topić (SRB) in the W High Jump, who could well have featured in the medal battle in Paris if not for an injury that ruled her out of competing. I mentioned Sembo Almayew (ETH) earlier, who placed 5th in the Olympic W Steeplechase and is just a few tenths
away from going sub-9:00!!
But it is 16-year-old Ziyi Yan (CHN) who could potentially be the biggest breakout star from these Championships in the W Javelin.
In April, she threw an impressive 64.28m to break the WU20 record, at the age of 15!
It is her first time competing outside China, so it remains to be seen how she copes with the pressure of global competition.
But the talent is undeniable. This could be the first of many moments in the global spotlight for the
youngster, and that underlines exactly what the World Athletics U20 Championships are all about.
So tune in to follow the most promising track & field talents from India and the world!
Written by Aaryan (X: @thesportsniche)
