Shaikira King and Otis Poole won two bronze medals for the United Kingdom during the fourth evening of the World U20 Championships in Eugene, while the mixed 4x100m relay claimed silver after lowering its national record once again in the final. With the three medals won on the night, the british team now has four podium finishes at this edition of the championships, following Wyatt Larkins’ bronze in the hammer throw.
Three more medals on the fourth night
The mixed 4x100m relay opened the United Kingdom’s medal haul for the evening with a second-place finish in the final. After setting the world U20 record in the heats in 41.60 seconds, Divine Iheme, Savannah Morgan-McKenzie, Mathew Ajayi and Sophie Thomas retained their places in the quartet for the final. The British quartet once again lowered the national record, clocking 41.38 seconds, improving the mark set in the heats by 0.22 seconds. It was not enough to secure the world title, however, with Italy taking gold. The British squad also had to withstand a late challenge from the United States, with Sophie Thomas holding on through the final metres to secure the silver medal.
The new mark means the British quartet now owns the second-fastest U20 performance in history in this still relatively new event. The world record had already been broken twice during the heats, first by Australia in 41.64 and then by Great Britain in 41.60. The final confirmed the rapid development of the mixed 4x100m, with another British record underlining the progress made by the quartet in the space of 24 hours.
Shaikira King then added a second bronze medal for the UK in the women’s 800m. In the absence of Phoebe Gill, who withdrew from the championships, the British athlete faced Slovenia’s Živa Remic and Greece’s Georgina Roussou, both of whom had shown a similar level of form throughout the competition. The three athletes remained closely matched until the final straight. King was still firmly in contention for the top two positions as they entered the closing stages, but she began to lose ground over the final metres. Remic eventually edged clear to take the title, while Roussou secured silver and King crossed the line in third.
The medal represents an important step forward for the British middle-distance runner, who had finished only third at this year’s British U20 Championships. It also adds another international medal to her record following the silver she won at the European U18 Championships in 2024. King’s bronze is also the first british women’s 800m medal at the World U20 Championships since Jess Judd won silver in 2012. Her performance therefore marks a significant return to the podium for British athletes in an event that has produced several strong performers at senior and junior level over the years.
The third British podium finish of the evening came in the men’s high jump, where Otis Poole cleared 2.21m to win bronze and improve his personal best by one centimetre. All three medallists cleared the same height, with the final positions decided on countback according to the number of attempts required.
Poole could nevertheless have finished much higher. His third and final attempt at 2.24m, a height which would have moved him into the lead, appeared to clear the bar before it eventually fell. The Briton barely made contact with it and, for a moment, the bar appeared likely to remain on the uprights. It ultimately came down, leaving Poole with bronze despite producing the best attempt at 2.24m among the competitors. The result is an important reward for the British high jumper, who had already won silver at the European U18 Championships. It also gives to the United Kingdom its first World U20 high jump medal in 30 years.
Alongside him, Samuel James, the reigning European U18 champion and winner of that title with a 2.25m clearance, finished fifth. He cleared 2.17m before failing three times at 2.21m. Only days after his European title, the Briton was unable to reproduce the same level of efficiency in Eugene.
