World Athletics U20 Championships 2024: losif Kesidis claims gold for Cyprus in men's hammer throw

losif Kesidis wins the first ever U20 gold for Cyprus.

The field events delivered fireworks on Thursday, the third day of action at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2024. 

Iosif Kesidis of Cyprus came into the men’s hammer throw final as the runaway favourite and he lived up to the pressure, locking up his first global title with a world U20 leading mark of 82.80m. It was a national U20 record and PB with the 6kg implement for the Cypriot, who upgraded his 2022 bronze medal from Cali. Kesidis later explained how he was targeting the national U20 record on that final attempt. 

It's the celebration for us 🫶Iosif Kesidis wins the first ever gold medal for Cyprus at the #WorldAthleticsU20 Championships with a massive 82.80m hammer throw world lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vF5MUUZ7xP

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 30, 2024

“This competition is my best,” said the 19-year-old after winning the first ever gold medal for his nation at the World U20 Championships. “I said to my coach before the goal, the last one I threw: ‘It is the best one, let’s go for the record.’ I love this sport.”

In an indication of his dominance, Kesidis was more than seven metres clear of his closest competitor. He could have won gold with every throw he launched today. 

Also Read: World Athletics U20 Championships 2024: Jamaica’s Alana Reid strikes gold in women’s 100m

Roland Imre of Hungary secured the silver medal, also with his final throw of the day, recording a PB mark of 75.33m. Imre was sitting in fifth going into the last round and met the moment to throw better than he ever has before exactly when it mattered most. It was a great night for the Hungarians as Imre’s compatriot Armin Szabados made it to the podium as well, throwing 74.88m for bronze.

USA’s Molly Haywood wins gold in women’s pole vault at World Athletics U20 Championships 2024

The women’s pole vault final was won by Molly Haywood of the US with a PB clearance of 4.47m. Haywood was strategic about her attempts and didn’t enter the competition until the 4.15m bar. As just two other athletes cleared that height, her place on the podium was decided with a single jump. 

Though Haywood was second at the US U20 Championships, she peaked at the right time to retain the global U20 pole vault title for her country after Hana Moll’s gold medal in Cali in 2022. 

Magdalena Rauter of Austria was second and Tryphena Hewett of Australia was third, both with clearances at 4.15m and medal colour decided on countback. Rauter and Hewett came into Lima just 12th and 11th, respectively, on the descending order list of season’s bests but they both jumped close to their PBs of 4.20m to earn their podium positions.

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