Thea Brown, Wyatt Larkins and Jake Odey-Jordan delivered the United Kingdom’s standout performances on the opening day of the World U20 Athletics Championships in Eugene. A provisional third place in the heptathlon, a place in the men’s 100m final, multiple qualifications for finals and semi-finals, and a national U20 record in the mixed 4x400m relay ensured the British team made a highly encouraging start to the championships.
Brown in medal contention as Odey-Jordan reaches 100m final
The women’s heptathlon, which opened the championships at Hayward Field, immediately provided Great Britain with its first major highlight. Thea Brown made the perfect start by winning the 100m hurdles in a personal best of 13.23, setting a new championship best performance for the heptathlon event at the World U20 Championships. She then cleared 1.78m to finish second in the high jump, leaving her at the top of the overall standings at the end of the morning session.
Brown continued to build momentum during the afternoon. Despite shot put traditionally being one of her weaker disciplines, she produced another personal best with 11.85m before closing the day with 24.45 in the 200m, just one hundredth of a second outside her lifetime best. Her opening day tally of 3,632 points leaves the British athlete in third place overnight, within striking distance of Finland’s Enni Virjonen (3,676) and France’s Zola Ndouma-Mona (3,669) heading into Thursday’s concluding three events.
One of the most eagerly anticipated British athletes on the track, Jake Odey-Jordan safely negotiated his way into the men’s 100m final. Having arrived in Eugene as the second-fastest entrant this season thanks to his outstanding 10.01 personal best, expectations were naturally high. He opened his campaign by winning his heat in 10.38, although the Brit later described the race as one to forget. He looked considerably sharper in the semi-finals, finishing second behind American favourite Tate Taylor in 10.24. That performance ranked him fifth among the finalists, leaving him firmly in medal contention in what promises to be an exceptionally competitive final, with very little separating the leading contenders on paper.
The field events also brought encouraging news for the British team. Wyatt Larkins booked his place in the men’s hammer final with his opening throw of 73.10m, a personal best that secured automatic qualification. His mark ranked third overall among the qualifiers, although China’s Chen Jiawei dominated qualification with a world U20-leading 80.39m, almost seven metres farther than any of his rivals. Daisy Snell also progressed to the women’s long jump final after producing a best of 6.28m in qualifying, the third-best mark of all those advancing.
The British team will have two representatives in the men’s 800m semi-finals. 2024 European U18 champion Matthew McKenna secured automatic qualification by finishing third in his heat, while Joshua Mungin advanced as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers. Although he crossed the line sixth in his race in 1:48.00, his time ranked sixth among all qualifiers, underlining the strength of a heat that proved significantly quicker than the others.
In the women’s event, Shaikira King stepped up in the absence of Phoebe Gill, who was forced to withdraw from the championships as she continues her recovery from injury. King comfortably progressed by winning her heat in 2:06.02 to secure her place in the semi-finals.
The day concluded with the mixed 4x400m relay final. Earlier in the morning, Luc McLeod, Caitlin Hatfield, Lucas Cameron and Noa Chodokufa won their qualifying heat in 3:21.27, with Chodokufa producing an outstanding anchor leg to move the relay from third place to victory.
The British quartet was reshuffled for the final, with Camiah Bennett and Shiloh Omotosho replacing Hatfield and Chodokufa alongside McLeod and Cameron. The changes proved effective as the team clocked 3:20.50, setting a new British U20 record and improving on the previous mark of 3:21.03 established in 2022 by a team featuring future Olympic medallist Sam Reardon, Brodie Young and Poppy Malik. Despite producing the fastest British U20 performance in history, the quartet narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing sixth in a final of exceptional quality. The race was ultimately dominated by the United States, whose victory came in a new World U20 record, underlining the extraordinary standard of the event.
