World Athletics has finally recognized the world records that Jessica Hull, Mondo Duplantis, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen set in recent months.
Additionally, five global U20 records—set by Niels Laros, Yan Ziyi, Mattia Furlani, Jamesia Ford, and Benaim Meharry—have been confirmed.
Olympic champions Ingebrigtsen and Duplantis, at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Silesia, smashed world records almost simultaneously. With a time of 7:17.55, Ingebrigtsen broke the previous world record of 7:20.67, achieved by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in Rome on September 1, 1996, by more than three seconds.
An hour or so later, Duplantis took to the pole vault runway and cleared 6.26 meters, raising his personal best by one centimeter from the one he established on August 5, the day he won the Olympic gold in Paris.
An hour or so later, Duplantis took to the pole vault runway and cleared 6.26 meters, raising his personal best by one centimeter from the one he established on August 5, the day he won the Olympic gold in Paris.
Hull made history before the Olympics with her 2000-meter run at the Diamond League competition in Monaco. Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi broke the world record for the distance run on September 14, 2021, with a time of 5:21.56, although the Australian won by more than six seconds in 5:19.70.
Ethiopian distance runner Benaim Meharry gained notoriety in February when he broke the world U20 indoor 1500m record in Torun. His time of 3:34.83 beat the previous record of 3:36.02 established by Ingebrigtsen on February 20 in Dusseldorf.
A few weeks later, US sprinter Jamesia Ford broke another global U20 indoor record in Boston, setting a 22.34 time over 200 meters, cutting 0.06 off the previous record established by USA’s Bianca Knight in Fayetteville on March 14, 2008. Ford had previously this season run two times in 22.36, but neither time could be officially recognized as a world U20 indoor record.
The world U20 records in outdoor events started to tumble in April when Yan Ziyi of China launched her javelin to a height of 64.28 meters in Hangzhou. The 16-year-old not only broke the previous world U20 record of 63.86 meters, which was achieved in Edmonton, Canada, on August 2, 2015, by Yelenic Aguilar of Cuba, but she also set a world U18 record. After the season concluded, Yan went on
One of the most memorable moments for the home crowd at the European Championships in Rome was when Italian teenager Mattia Furlani easily won silver by setting a world record for the U20 long jump with a leap of 8.38 meters. His leap was three centimeters higher than the record set in Cheboksary, Russia, on June 20, 2012.
Another youth who achieved a global U20 on home soil is Niels Laros. At the July Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hengelo, the Dutch middle-distance runner broke the record of 2:15.00 set by Kenya’s Benjamin Kikusui in Nice on July 17, 1999, with a time of 2:14.37.
