Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew broke the championship record in the women’s 3000m steeplechase while South Africa’s Udeme Okon took the men’s 400m gold on third day of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 on Thursday.
Almayew become the first ever Ethiopian world U20 women’s steeplechase champion in impressive fashion. The Paris Olympian outpaced Uganda’s Loice Chekwemoi in the penultimate lap, finishing in 9:12.71.
This performance secured her a gold medal to complement her silver from two years prior and broke Celliphine Chespol’s 2018 championship record by 0.07 seconds.
Chekwemoi finished second with 9:18.84, and Kenya’s Diana Chepkemoi took bronze with 9:29.84.
In the men’s 400m event, South African runner Udeme Okon demonstrated his dominance in the crucial final 100 metres, outpacing Americans Jayden Davis and Sidi Njie to win gold in 45.69 seconds. Davis and Njie followed with silver and bronze, clocking 46.08 and 46.29 seconds, respectively.
The men’s 3000m race saw an unexpected outcome as Norway’s Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen sprinted to victory with a time of 8:20.56, defeating Kenya’s Denis Kipkoech, who finished in 8:20.79, and Great Britain’s Edward Bird, who recorded 8:21.00.