All you need to know about World Athletics U-20 Championships 2022

The tournament is a week-long event from Aug 1-6 in Cali.

The star athletes of tomorrow will hope to shine on the big stage in the World Athletics U-20 Championships, also known as the World Junior Championships. The event will occur between August 1 and 6 in Cali, Colombia.

Team India is sending a contingent of 37 athletes. The qualification period lasted from 1st October 2021 to July 18, 2022, and the juniors must be born no earlier than 1 January 2003.

The youngsters will take inspiration from India’s positive outing in the senior championships at Oregon. A good display can catapult these stars to the pinnacle of athletics.

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About the Tournament

The World Athletics U-20 Championships are held over six days with many participants representing their countries for the first time. There are 28 track and field disciplines and 45 events in total. The biennial world championship was initially launched in 1986 as the ‘IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics and was renamed to ‘IAAF World U-20 Championships in 2015.’ The current name and format were adopted in 2019.

The tournament was held in Kenya last year following a three-year gap. The United States tops the all-time medal table with 248, followed by Kenya with 202. India is tied on 51 with Serbia, tallying seven medals in total. Neeraj Chopra incidentally holds the Javelin Throw World Junior Record with his 86.48m effort in the 2016 Poland Championships.

Structure

The events are divided into men’s track, men’s field, men’s combined, women’s track, women’s field, and women’s combined along with a mixed 4x400m relay. 1533 athletes from 145 nations have qualified in total.

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The track events include 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1500 metres, 3000 metres, 5000 metres, 110 metres hurdles, 400 metres hurdles, and 3000 metres steeplechase, 4x100 metres relay, 4x400 metres relay and 10,000m walk.

The field events include High jump, Pole vault, long jump, Triple jump, Shot put, Discus throw, Hammer throw, and Javelin throw. A combined Decathlon for men and a combined Heptathlon for women rounds off the scheduled events in Cali.

Team India: Past performances and current squad

Only six Indians have managed a podium finish in the Junior Worlds, namely Neeraj Chopra who won India’s first gold in the competition, Hima Das who also won gold in 2018, and silver-medallists Seema Punia, Shaili Singh & Amit and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, who won bronze.

The Indian mixed relay team of Priya Mohan, Bharat S, Summy, and Kapil clocked 3:20.60 to finish third in the finals at Nairobi, bagging bronze. This was India’s fifth medal in the history of the Junior Worlds. The quartet will participate again this year.

Long jumper Shaili Singh misses out after failing to recover from a toe injury. The silver medallist last year fractured her right foot while training a few weeks ago. She missed out on gold by 0.1cm and has since suffered a back injury and covid. Shaili returned strongly with a bronze at the Indian Grand Prix 4 but seemed off-colour.

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India Full Squad for World Athletics U-20 Championships

MEN

Suraj Alagar Raja (4 x 400m Relay)

Graceson Amalda (110m Hurdles)

Babubhai Barjod (10 km Race walk)

Lalu Bhoi (Long Jump)

 Chandrashekhar (Long Jump)

Rihan Choudhary (4 x 400m Relay)

Kapil (4 x 400m Relay)

Aryan Kashyapa (400m Hurdles)

Aman Khokhar (100m)

Hardeep Kumar (400m Hurdles, 4 x 400m Relay)

Vivek Kumar (Javelin Throw)

Krishik Manjunatha (110m Hurdles)

Deepak Rohilla (4 x 400m Relay)

Sanyam Sanjay (Shot Put- 6 kg)

Sawan (Shot Put- 6 kg)

Pradeep Senthilkumar (800m)

Barath Sridhar (400m, 4 x 400m Relay) S

Selva Thirumaran (Triple Jump)

Arjun Waskale (800m, 1500m)

Rohit Kumar Yadav (10 km Race walk)

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WOMEN

Nandini Agasara (100m Hurdles)

Ashakiran Barla (800m)

Unnathi Bolland (100m Hurdles)

Priya Mohan (200m, 400m, 4 x 400m Relay)

Supriti Kachhap (5000m)

Anushka Kumbhar (4 x 400m Relay)

Rajitha Kunja (4 x 400m Relay)

Avantika Narale (100m)

Mansi Negi (10 km Race walk)

Rachana (10 km Race walk)

Rupal (400m, 4 x 400m Relay)

Laxita Sandilea (800m)

Sudeshna Shivankar (100m, 200m)

Priyanka Sikarwar (100m, 200m)

Simmy (400m, 4 x 400m Relay)

Summy (4 x 400m Relay)

Where to watch?

Fans can catch the live action on the World Athletics YouTube channel and Facebook page.

World Athletics U-20 Championships 2022: Indian Contingent Schedule

Day 1: August 1 (Times in IST)

22:30: Arjun Waskale – 1500M Heats

22:38: Chandrashekhar – Long Jump

23:38: Ashakiran Barla, Laxita Sandilea – 800M Heats

24:07: Sanyam Sanjay, Sawan – Shot Put (6kg)

04:50: Priya Mohan, Bharat S, Summy and Kapil - 4x400 Relay Heats

05:55: Barath Sridhar – 400M Decathlon

Day 2:

21:30: Krishik Manjunatha - 110m Hurdles

24:00: Avantika Narale, Priyanka Sikarwar – 100m

04:35: Vivek Kumar – Javelin Throw

05:20: 4x400m mixed relay final

06:25: Aman Khokhar – 100m