The Lima 24 World Athletics U-20 Championships will take place from 27-31 August and will see the participation of more than 1,700 athletes from 134 teams.
Here we bring you the women's and men's sprint events taking place at the Estadio Atlético de la Videna.
Women's 100m
In the women's 100 meters, all eyes will be on Jamaica's Alana Reid, who holds the U20 national record of 10.92 seconds and is the only athlete in the field with a personal best under 11 seconds. Reid led Jamaica's 4×100 meters team at the Paris Olympics, finishing fifth in the final. After winning bronze in the 200 meters at the 2022 World U20 Championships, Reid will be looking to win gold in the 100 meters in Lima.
Reid will test another rising Jamaican star, 16-year-old Tianna Lee Terrelonge, who won this year's Jamaican U-20 Championships with a personal best of 11.13 (Reid will compete in the Senior Championships). Australian record holder Tory Lewis, who ran a personal best of 11.10 earlier this year and is representing Australia in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympics, is well placed to top the podium.
Adaeja Hodge will also be looking to carry her momentum from Paris into the competition. The sprint sensation from the British Virgin Islands ran a personal best of 11.11 to win both the 100m and 200m at her country's senior national championships in June and competed in the 200m at the Olympics earlier this month.
Men's 100m
An astonishing four men have broken 10.10 seconds in the 100 metres this season, led by South Africa's Bradley Nkoana, whose personal best of 10.03 seconds, set in July in Switzerland, is a national U-20 record. Nkoana arrives in Lima as the favourite after helping South Africa's 4×100 metres team win silver at the Paris Olympics in an African record time of 37.57 seconds.
Among the athletes challenging Nkoana in Lima will be China's He Jinxian, Jamaica's Gary Card and Thailand's Pripol Boonsong. China's He won this year's China Championships in a national U-20 record of 10.06. Card, 17, won the Jamaica U-20 Championships in June in a personal best of 10.07, moving him to second on the Jamaican U-20 list. Boonsong is in the semi-finals in Paris and will be looking to improve on his season's best of 10.08 set in April. His personal best of 10.06, set in 2023, tied the U-18 world record.
Women's 200m
As in the 100m, a Jamaican led all competitors in the 200m. It was 16-year-old Shanoya Micalia Douglas, who won the Jamaica U20 Championships in June in 22.59 seconds. The result made her the fastest time this season in Peru, but she is not the personal best holder among the field. That honor belongs to Adaeja Hodge, who will compete again in Lima after the 100m in 2023, having run 22.33 seconds indoors. Hodge will bring a wealth of senior global experience to the event, having reached the semifinals in the 200m at this year's Olympics and last year's World Championships in Budapest.
Australia's Tori Lewis will also be competing in the 200m after making her 100m debut in Lima. Lewis ran a personal best of 22.89 at the Olympics earlier this month. Elise Cooper of the United States is also expected to have a strong run. Cooper won the national U-20 championships and then ran a personal best of 22.71 in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
In addition to these four women, South African Viwe Jingqi is the only competitor with a personal best time under 23 seconds (22.96).
Men's 200m
Another South African is leading the field in the 200 metres, Bayanda Walaza, who is running alone in a personal best time of 20.34. Walaza, who opened the race for South Africa's 4×100 metres team that won silver in Paris and broke the African record, will also compete in the 100 metres in Lima, but it is the 200 metres that will give him the best chance of winning the title.
Other podium contenders include Poland's Marek Zakrzewski (PB 20.50), two-time European U-20 champion, Italy's Eduardo Longobardi, who won the Italian U-20 Championships last month in a PB of 20.53, and Great Britain's Jake O'Day-Jordan, who broke the British U-20 indoor 200m record this year at the age of 16 (PB 20.55).
Women's 400m
At the 2022 World U-20 Championships, a time under 52 seconds was needed to make the podium in the women's 400 meters. In 2024, there will be three women who have already broken 51 seconds this season.
Lourdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic boasts her fastest national U-20 time of 50.52, set at the European Championships in Rome in June. Manuel reached the semifinals of the 400 meters at the Paris Olympics.
Nigeria's Ella Onojuwewo has a personal best of 50.57 seconds and will challenge Manuel for the win. Onojuwewo was part of Nigeria's gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the African Championships in June. Like Manuel, she also reached the 400m semifinals in Paris.
Mikaela Mouton of the United States ran a personal best of 50.96 seconds in May and will need to improve on that time to beat Manuel and Onojwewo. Her teammate Zaya Akins, who beat Mouton at the U.S. U-20 championships, owns a personal best of 51.33 seconds and is the last swimmer in the field to break 52 seconds.
Men's 400m
The South African men's sprint strength will be completed by Udeme Okon in the 400m. Okon has recorded personal bests in the 100m, 200m and 400m in 2024 and comes to the 400m in Lima with the fastest personal and season's best of the competition (45.41). He will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Lise Pillay, who won the 400m at the last World U20 Championships.
Ocon will face multiple challengers in this challenge, most notably Jayden Davis of the United States. Davis was a member of Arizona State University's 4x400m relay team that won the NCAA indoor championships earlier this year. Davis' personal best is slightly faster at 45.49 seconds, but he placed second at the U.S. U20 Championships behind Sidi N'Jie. N'Jie will also be competing in the Lima race and could be in medal contention with a personal best of 45.62 seconds.
China's Irisiel Wumaier is also one to watch, with highlights this season including winning the Asian U-20 Championships in a new personal best time of 45.53 and winning the 400m at the China Senior National Championships.
Jesse Gabriel of the World Athletics Championships
