Taylor and Maxwell twins headline World Under-20 Championships

Tate Taylor’s 9.94 seconds in the men’s 100m and 19.83 in the 200m marked him as one of the leading figures of a remarkable World Under-20 Championships. Mia Maxwell also completed a sprint double, winning the women’s 100m in 11.14 and the 200m in 22.37.

Taylor defeated Jamaica’s Gary Card by more than a tenth of a second in the 100m final, having run 10.05 in the heats and 10.06 in the semi-finals. Card arrived with a strong senior result behind him after finishing second at the Jamaican National Championships in 9.93.

The American then produced an even wider margin in the 200m, where his 19.83 victory came almost half a second ahead of the field. He also completed a relay treble, matching the combination of sprint titles and relay success achieved by Noah Lyles at the 2023 World Championships.

Maxwell’s first victory came in a close 100m contest with Jamaica’s Shanoya Douglas, who finished second in 11.17. Mia again beat Douglas in the 200m, while her twin Mariah placed fifth in the shorter race and took bronze over 200m. The sisters had already finished first and second in both sprints at the United States Under-20 Championships.

Australia’s Izobelle Louison-Roe added a high-jump gold, clearing 1.92m. She also has a 13.73m mark in the triple jump and had previously won silver at the Under-20 Championships in Lima two years earlier.

More than 1,800 athletes competed across five days at Hayward Field in Eugene, the biggest field assembled for the event. The quality was high enough to make the competitors appear beyond their age group, while the venue gave many of the teenagers their first chance to compete in one of athletics’ major arenas. Their performances, personalities and early results point to a group likely to become increasingly familiar at senior championships.