Team USATF sweeps men's 400 medals at World U20 Championships

EUGENE, Oregon — Jayden DeLeon and Quincy Wilson sprinted to gold and silver in the men's 400 Friday night to cap off a five medal day for Team USATF at the 21st World Athletics U20 Championships at Hayward Field. The U.S. tops the medal table with four golds and five silvers and also leads the team points standings with 79, 40 more than the next best nation, Kenya.
 
The morning session produced a big surprise in the men's 110 hurdles when Le'Ezra Brown blitzed to an American U20 record of 12.89 in the heats, taking down his own AR of 12.95 that he set in the heats at the USATF U20 meet.
 
DeLeon, the fastest man coming into the meet with the 44.52 he ran to win the USATF U20 title, sped to the lead almost immediately and went through 200 in 21.43, more than a tenth of a second in front of Wilson. Leendert Koekemoer of South Africa made a strong push around the final bend and took the lead from DeLeon, going by 300 in 32.55, but the American champion bided his time and slowly worked his way back into the lead as the South African began to tire.
 
As DeLeon moved ever closer to gold, Wilson also surged past Koekemoer in the final 40 meters and the U.S. duo became the first from the same country to cross the line 1-2 since Darold Williamson and Jonathan Fortenberry in 2002. DeLeon set a Championships record with his 44.47 winning time, and Wilson had a season best of 44.62. Koekemoer also went sub-45 with a 44.96 for bronze. DeLeon's time kept him at the No. 6 spot on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list as it broke the old meet record of 44.58 by Botswana's Anthony Pesela in 2021.
 
The evening session started with a big performance from Kayden Hulet in the men's hammer, earning silver with a massive lifetime best of 77.55 on his final throw. Hulet's mark moved him to second on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list and added almost five meters to his pre-Championships PB. After a foul on his first try, Hulet hit a modest 70.76 in round two and improved his PB to 73.71 on his third attempt to earn more throws.
 
He fouled again in round four and then notched another PB with a 74.68 that moved him into bronze medal position before he jumped to silver in round six. China's Chen Jiawei had three throws good enough for gold, topped by a 79.16 on the final toss of the competition. Hulet's medal was only the fourth ever for the U.S. at this meet.
 
Miles Nesmith added to the medal haul in the men's triple jump, also with a huge lifetime best to take silver. Nesmith opened with a 16.32 that gave him the lead until China's Zhuoyue Wang went 16.36 two rounds later. Nesmith responded with a PB leap of 16.54 in round four to retake the lead and he extended his lead with a 16.79 PB that tied him for No. 5 on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list with legend Willie Banks. Gold was snatched away in the final round by Jamaica's Michael-Andre Edwards, who exploded to a 17.08, the farthest U20 jump this year.
 
Valiantly trying to make it a runaway gold in the women's 400, Ataja Stephane-Vazquez had the lead through the first 350 of the race but couldn't quite hold off a Polish U20 national record effort by Anastazja Kus, who closed very well to win in 51.06. Stephane-Vazquez held on for silver in 51.36, well ahead of Guyana's Tianna Springer, who took bronze in 51.76. Clara Adams of the U.S. was seventh in 52.76.
 
Other track finals saw Owen Powell set a PB of 7:53.35 for 10th in the men's 3000, with Noah Bontrager 18th in 8:09.10. Powell's time made him the No. 9 all-time U.S. U20 performer. Sierra Wall placed 14th in the women's 3000 steeplechase in 10:21.21. After the first day's events in the men's decathlon, Brody Foster is 13th in the point standings with 3,904. Darius Jones was disqualified in the 400 for a lane violation and is 31st with 3,004.
 
It was an all-Texas affair in the semifinals of the 200 as Tate Taylor and Blake Hamilton had the two fastest men's times and twins Mariah and Mia Maxwell had the second and third fastest women's efforts. Taylor, who dominated the men's 100 final last night, looked very comfortable in winning the third semi in 20.34, the fastest overall, and Hamilton was similarly unbothered on the way to a 20.38 in the first semi.
 
Mia Maxwell, the women's 100 champ, won the first semi in 22.87, and then watched her sister Mariah place second in the next section to Jamaica's Shanoya Douglas in 22.78. Douglas, the 100 silver medalist, had the fastest overall time at 22.53, setting up another tantalizing showdown in tomorrow's final.
 
Building on the record-setting performance he turned in earlier in the day in the heats, Le'Ezra Brown rode an illegal +2.7 meters per second wind to the second fastest U20 110 hurdles time ever, a 12.82w to win the first semi. Japan's Jeremy Koga turned in a masterful performance in the third semi, zipping to a 12.95 that made him the fourth fastest U20 hurdler ever and edging USATF champ Zacchaeus Brooks, who was second in 13.00.
 
Both U.S. women's 100 hurdlers also advanced easily to the final. Maddi Cooper was third in the first semi in 13.14, and Tori Goodson took second in semi three in 13.16.
 
Paige Sheppard led all qualifiers for the final in the women's 800, frontrunning a 2:01.97 in the second semifinal to record the fast time overall by almost a second. Ellie Barada was firth in the first semi in 2:05.06 and did not advance. Neither of the American men in the 800 moved on, as Kaleb Burroughs was ninth in the second semi in 1:51.38 and Stefon Dodoo was disqualified in semi one.
 
Morning session
 
U.S. women's throwers went 4-4 in qualifying competition. Burklie Burton had the second farthest throw ever by an American U20 woman in the hammer to lead all qualifiers for the final at 68.03. She will be joined by Meagan Ewers, who was 10th overall with a best of 60.27. In the javelin, Emily Harbach had the fifth best throw at 52.98 and met the automatic qualifying standard, while Sophia Mazzoni used a 50.33 to place eighth overall and earn her spot in the final.
 
Bailey Hensgens and Brianna Rivers also garnered berths in the 14-athlete women's high jump final by clearing 1.79. Hensgens had no misses at the four heights she attempted, but Rivers needed three attempts to scale 1.79 and move on safely. In the men's long jump, Quincy Isaac was the second best of all the qualifiers, spanning a PB of 7.91 on his opening attempt. Carter Reckelberg was 25th overall at 6.95 and did not advance.
 
TEAM USATF MEDALS (9)
 
Gold (4)
Mixed 4x400 relay — Shelton, Overton, Hunter, Harris, 3:15.31 (World U20 Best)
Women's 100 — Mia Maxwell, 11.14
Men's 100 — Tate Taylor, 9.94
Men's 400 — Jayden DeLeon, 44.47
 
Silver (5)
Women's Discus — Jaslene Massey, 58.41
Men's Hammer — Kayden Hulet, 77.55
Men's Triple Jump — Miles Nesmith, 16.79
Women's 400 — Ataja Stephane-Vazquez, 51.36
Men's 400 — Quincy Wilson, 44.62
 
Bronze (0)