United States Picks Up Five Medals, Including First Gold, On Third Day Of Competition at World Athletics U20 Championships

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

World Athletics Photos

Molly Haywood delivered the first gold medal for the U.S. team competing at the World Athletics U20 Championships at Lima, Peru on Thursday. 

The freshman from Baylor University, who placed fifth at the NCAA Championships in June, jumped a personal best height of 4.47m (14-8) for the win. Haywood easily won the competition and made three higher bars than silver and bronze medalists Magdalena Rauter of Austria and Tryphena Hewitt of Australia. 

In the men's triple jump final, Karson Gordon made a huge personal record gain out to 16.74m (54-11.25) and surpassed the all-time high school record held for 20 years by Kenny Bell (54-10.25) as he earned the silver medal. It's not clear that he is eligible for the high school record, however, because he enrolled at UCLA in June. 

Gordon, a graduate of Episcopal TX, broke the national Federation record at Texas Relays. 

Gordon jumped his best mark in the third round and it gave him the lead in the competition. He suffered a foul and possible injury on his fourth attempt. He did not jump in the fifth or sixth rounds, when Ethan Oliver of New Zealand took over and won the gold with 17.01m (55-9.75) an Oceania U20 record. 

The United States won three medals in the 400-meter finals. 

First, Zaya Akins took bronze in the women's race in a time of 52.00 seconds. Lurdes Gloria Manuel from the Czech Republic won the gold with 51.29. Dianna Proctor of Canada took silver, just ahead of Akins, in 51.98. 

In the final race of the day, Americans Jayden Davis and Sidi Njie ran to silver and bronze in the men's race. Udeme Okon of South African won the 400 gold medal with 45.69. Davis, of Arizona State, was second in 46.08 and Njie of Westlake GA was third in 46.29. 

Ryan Johnson from Eastern Michigan finished fourth in the men's hammer with a mark of 72.13m (236-7). Iosif Kesidis of Cyprus won the gold with 82.80m (271-8). His margin of victory was more than seven meters.

In the semifinals of the men's 110-meter hurdles, NCAA champion Ja'Kobe Tharp of Auburn ran a time of 13.11 seconds, fastest by a U20 athlete in the world this season. Tharp will be joined in the final by Andre Korbmacher of Florida State, who ran a personal best 13.25 for the second-fastest time in the semifinals. 

Nonah Waldron of USC advanced to the finals of the women's 100-meter hurdles with 13.35 seconds for the fourth-fastest time in the semifinals. 

Cheyla Scott of Oregon advanced to the finals of the women's high jump when she cleared six feet (1.83m).

Sophia Gorriaran of Harvard moved to the finals of the women's 800 meters by placing second in her semifinal in 2:03.01. Her time was the second fastest and she will look to bring home the gold medal in the same event that Roisin Willis won  two years ago in Cali. 

Daniel Watcke of Villanova advanced to the men's 800 meters final with a time of 1:47.68, the sixth-fastest time in the semifinals. 

There are more U.S. medal hopefuls in the 200 finals. Elise Cooper of McDonogh MD and Taylor Snaer of Modesto Junior College both advanced to the women's final. Adaejah Hodge of British Virgin Islands, a U.S. high schooler from Montverde Academy FL, is also in the final. 

Jaden Wiley of Duluth GA ran 21.04 for a spot in the men's 200 final. Jake Odey-Jordan from Great Britain (Archbishop Carroll DC) grabbed the final spot with 21.40.

Semba Almayew from Ethiopia broke the championships meet record when she ran 9:12.71 to win the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase gold. Americans Angelina Napoleon of North Carolina State and Katie Clute of Oregon finished 10th and 11th, respectively. 

Paul Catalanatto Jr. (Catholic Baton Rouge LA) finished 12th in the men's javelin. 

Norway's Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen won the men's 3,000 meters less than a week after countryman Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the world record in the event. Halvorsen ran 8:20.56 to edge out Kenya's Denis Kipkoech. The U.S. did not have anyone in the event.