Athletics News

It's not often an Indian sprinter lines up in a global championship as the one to beat, but that's very much the case in the women's 400m in Tampere where Hima Das will look to repel the challenge of a strong USA duo.

The race to become the fastest teenager in the world looks like it will come down to a clash between two sprint superpowers: South Africa and the United States.

USA's Twanisha Terry will take on Jamaica's Briana Williams over 100m in what is possibly one of the most eagerly awaited clashes of the championships.

If this event plays out according to the form chart, the USA will be in a strong position to produce the first national 1-2 200m finish since Nigeria took gold and silver at the inaugural edition in 1986.

For a nation accustomed to dominating the sprints over the past decade, a tally of four medals from the IAAF World Championships in London caused some recrimination and soul searching in the Jamaican ranks last summer.

Ethiopia's Tadese Lemi heads the entries for two-lap contest courtesy of his 1:46.00 clocking in Djibouti earlier this year, where he finished a close runner-up to former world indoor 1500m champion Ayanleh Souleiman.

Sammy Watson is only the third fastest US runner on paper at U20 level in 2018 but that doesn't mean the 18-year-old is not the favourite to retain her title.

Anytime you get an athlete competing at an U20 championship who is good enough to win gold at senior level, victory is typically a foregone conclusion, but despite the outstanding ability of Ethiopia's Samuel Tefera that...

Ethiopian athletes have won three of the past four 1500m titles since 2010 - Faith Kipyegon being the interloper in 2012 - and this record is expected to be improved upon in Tampere.

Don't be fooled by the world U20 list. The Ethiopian duo of Girmawit Gebregziabher and Tsige Gebreselama are ranked outside the top 10 on the U20 list at this distance but it would be imprudent to take those times at fac...

Among the biggest favourites on the Tampere Stadium track this week will be rising Ugandan star Jacob Kiplimo, whose career has advanced by the proverbial leaps and bounds since he raced to 10,000m bronze at the last edi...

Japan-based Hellen Ekarare Lobun leads the entry lists by a clear margin with 15:12.89 but she was decisively beaten at the Kenyan U20 Championships by Beatrice Chebet, 15:31.66 to 15:46.97.

Staggering. There's no other way to describe Kenyan dominance in this event. In 15 of the championships' 16 editions, the first man across the finish line wore the country's black, red and green. In 10 of those races, Ke...

World U18 champion De'Jour Russell's rise through the ranks is such that he made the Jamaican senior team for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April, making the final just days after celebrating his 18th birthday.

Chanel Brissett leads the world U20 lists with 12.75 - the second fastest time in history at U20 level - but the 18-year-old still missed out on a place on the US team for Tampere.

Last year, Sokwakhana Zazini left Nairobi as one of the brightest U18 talents on the planet. This year, the 17-year-old South African intermediate hurdler will arrive in Tampere ready to pick up where he left off.

It's no surprise that success at the IAAF World U18 Championships has a strong correlation with success at the IAAF World U20 Championships, and one athlete who'll be hoping to continue that trend is South Africa's Zeney...

Zhang Yao will aim to become the first man in history to complete a full set of global age-group race walking titles.

Mexico's Alegna Gonzalez and Ecuador's Glenda Morejon finished first and second over 10km at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang in May and they will resume their rivalry over the same distance but ...

Spanish heptathlete Maria Vicente added the continental crown to the world U18 title she won last year, scoring a world U18 best of 6221 at the European U18 Championships in Gyor on Friday (6).