Williams becomes fourth double sprint champion, including second from Jamaica, with Duplantis setting pole vault meet record and Cuba’s Diaz achieving the feat in men’s triple jump; Cal’s Rogers is Canada’s female gold medalist

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Whether it was Briana Williams receiving congratulations via Instagram from Jamaican legends Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson, or the female members of the Swedish national team wanting to pose for photos with Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, two of the biggest stars of the IAAF World U-20 Championships were front and center Saturday in Tampere, Finland.

Duplantis, a Lafayette LA graduate and LSU signee, set the men’s pole vault meet record with a clearance of 19 feet, 1 inch (5.82m) and Williams, a Northeast FL sophomore, became the youngest double sprint champion in championship history, elevating to the No. 5 all-time prep performer in the 200 meters with a wind-legal 22.50 seconds at Ratina Stadium.

“I trained for this all season and I’m just glad I came out here and got two golds,” Williams told the IAAF.

“Doubling is hard, it was hard for me, and I was a little bit tired coming into the race, but I’m glad I was able to finish injury free.”

Williams eclipsed the 200 meet record of 22.53 set in 2012 by Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas, the last female athlete to win both World U-20 sprint titles in the same year, improving to the No. 12 all-time World U-20 performer in the 200.

Williams also joined Veronica Campbell-Brown (2000) as the only Jamaicans to win both the 100 and 200 gold medals in meet history.

“I feel great. I’m really surprised about the time, but I just came out here to do what Veronica Campbell did in 2000 and become the second one from Jamaica, so I’m glad that I did that,” Williams said. “I’ve put in a lot of work, especially in training, and a lot of hard work in the gym.”

Duplantis made his work look easy, needing to clear only two bars to win the title, before making his first attempt at 19-1 to surpass the 2008 meet record of 18-8.75 (5.71m) set by Argentina’s German Chiaraviglio.

“It’s a really great relief because I was going into the championships with a lot of pressure on me to win it,” Duplantis told the IAAF.

“Anything but the gold medal would have been a disappointment to a lot of people, especially me, and just to be able to get that off my chest and have the gold medal right here now, it’s great. I don’t really know how to describe it, but me and my family are really happy, for sure.”

Duplantis won the World U-18 crown in 2015 in Colombia, but placed third in his first attempt at the World U-20 title in 2016 in Poland. That served as motivation for Duplantis to pursue the championship again in Finland, despite a summer schedule filled with Diamond League meets against the world’s top professionals.

“I think that pressure can also motivate an athlete and if you use the pressure to your advantage and you let it motivate you, it can work out for you and maybe even also benefit you in a way, so it was extra motivation for me that I wanted to make those heights on first attempts to save my energy in case I was behind when I came into the competition,” said Duplantis, who took three attempts at a world-leading height of 19-8.50 (6.01m).

“I have a lot of important meets ahead of me, so I can’t get too far ahead of myself and this is just one of the many important stops along the way of this long journey. My family and I will go eat, but I don’t think we’ll do anything too crazy, because I think I have a lot more things to achieve before I start going crazy.”

Cuba’s Jordan Diaz matched the success of Duplantis by following his World U-18 title from last year in Kenya with a World U-20 gold medal in Finland, in addition to setting the men’s triple jump meet record with a third-round leap of 56-3.25 (17.15m).

Diaz became the fourth straight men’s triple jump winner from Cuba, surpassing the wind-legal mark of 56-2.50 (17.13m) set in 2014 by Lazaro Martinez.

South Africa’s Sokwakhana Zazini added a World U-20 championship in the men’s 400-meter hurdles to his World U-18 title from last year by clocking 49.42 to become the first from his country to win the event since LJ van Zyl in 2002.

For the first time in meet history, there was a shared gold medal in the men’s high jump, with Mexico’s Roberto Vilches and Greece’s Antonios Merlos deciding to both celebrate championships instead of competing in a jumpoff to decide the title.

Merlos, who attends Georgia, and Vilches both cleared 7-3.75 (2.23m) on their first attempts and missed all three tries at 7-4.50 (2.25m), giving them the option of continuing in a sudden-death jumpoff or sharing the crown.

South Africa’s Breyton Poole and American JuVaughn Blake, who competes for LSU, also shared the bronze after both athletes cleared 7-3.75 on their second attempts, before also missing at 7-4.50. Poole captured the World U-18 title in Kenya last year.

For the first time since 2010, Kenya captured gold and silver in the men’s 5,000 final, with Edward Zakayo Pingua edging Stanley Waithaka Mburu by a 13:20.16 to 13:20.57 margin to secure the country’s eighth title in the event. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen set the European U-20 record by earning bronze in 13:20.78, becoming the first athlete from any European country to medal since 1994.

With defending champion Selemon Barega placing fourth in 13:21.16, it marked the first time since 2010 that Ethiopia, which boasts nine championships in the event, did not medal.

Cal’s Camryn Rogers became the first World U-20 female gold medalist in any event from Canada, capturing the hammer throw crown with a first-round effort of 212-11 (64.90m).

“That sounds like a title I was hoping for, but it’s definitely not going to hit me for a while,” Rogers told the IAAF.

“Being out there throwing is the best feeling in the world and being able to come away with a gold medal and that title just hones in how amazing of a competition this was and how exciting this is.”

Australia’s Nash Lowis captured the first men’s javelin title for his country with a fifth-round throw of 247-1 (75.31m).

In the men’s 10,000 racewalk, the closest finish in meet history decided the championship, with China’s Yao Zhang prevailing against Ecuador’s David Hurtado by a 40:32.054 to 40:32.060 margin.

Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez won the women’s 10,000 racewalk gold medal, the first for her country, in 44:13.88.

Without the U.S. or Jamaica competing, Germany captured its first women’s 4x100 relay gold medal since 2000 and third in meet history by clocking 43.82 to hold off Ireland, which set a national U-20 record 43.90 to take silver.