2021 World Athletics U-20 Championships postponed by a day

Several young Indian starlets will be in action at the event.

The World Athletics U-20 Championships 2021 which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya have been postponed by a day. It will now start on August 18 and will finish on the same predetermined date, August 22. In an ideal world, the competition should have taken place last year. However, just like several sporting events, the COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport in this case as well.

“The impact of COVID on teams travelling and logistics of moving vital equipment around the world have proven to be a challenge. However, the full athletics programme will be accommodated across five days rather than five-and-a-half days,” read a statement from World Athletics.

"We would like to thank our athletes and their teams, our suppliers and the local organizing committee in Kenya for accommodating this change and working collaboratively in challenging times to stage a great championships for these young, promising athletes as they begin their athletics journey," the statement added.

Indian contingent overcomes anxious wait

The Indian athletes set to participate at the World Athletics U-20 Championships had some anxious moments at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Saturday night. They were to fly to Nairobi via Doha. The airline officials asked for a letter from the Kenyan Health Ministry to clear the athletes for the flight.

“We have the invitation from World Athletics and every athlete has an individual QR code from the Kenyan Health Ministry, but they were not accepting it,” said a coach with the team. Eventually, the team reached the Kenyan capital on Sunday.

A number of promising Indian athletes will take part in this year's competition. The likes of Shaili Singh, Priya Mohan and Anu Kumar will be eager to shine on the global stage. A 28-member Indian contingent under the tutelage of Kamal Ali Khan will compete at the World Athletics U-20 Championships.

Over the years, four Indian athletes have won medals at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. Seema Antil and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon had bagged bronze medals in 2002 and 2014 respectively. More recently, Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das won gold medals in the 2016 and 2018 editions respectively. The current contingent will be hoping to follow in their footsteps and set the Kasarani Stadium on fire.

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