Alana Reid of Jamaica and Bayanda Walaza of South Africa won the 100 metres and the World U20 Athletics Championships on Wednesday night in Lima, Peru.
Reed, 19, won in 11.17 seconds. She was part of Jamaica's 4x100m relay team that placed fifth at the Paris Olympics. She placed sixth in the 100m at the Jamaica Olympic Trials.
The 18-year-old Walaza finished in 10.19 seconds and was part of South Africa's 4x100m relay team that won silver at the Paris Olympics.
No Americans competed in either final.
At the past two U-20 World Championships in 2021 and 2022, Botswana's Letsile Tebogo won the men's 100m and Jamaica's Tina Clayton won the women's 100m. Tebogo then went on to win the 200m at the Paris Olympics.
The last Americans to win the 100 meters at the World U-20 Championships were Noah Lyles and Candice Hill in 2016. Lyles went on to win the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics and also won the last three senior world championship titles in the 200 meters.
The World U20 Championships will feature athletes aged 16 to 19 on Dec. 31. The U20 World Championships continue through Saturday and will be broadcast live on Peacock.
Past U-20 world champions who have won gold medals at the Paris Olympics include Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyoni (800m) and Beatrice Chebet (5,000m, 10,000m), Sweden's Mondo Duplantis (pole vault) and Canada's Camryn Rogers (hammer throw).
The next World U20 Championships will be held in Eugene, Oregon in 2026.
