The record-breaking American sprinter and Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown both complete sprint doubles on the final day of the IAAF World Youth Championships

USA’s Candace Hill clocked 22.43 for 200m on Sunday as the 16-year-old set her second world youth best to complete a sprint double on the final day of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.

Hill, who broke the 100m world youth best with 10.98 in June, led home a US 1-2 as her team-mate Lauren Rain Williams took silver in 22.90, with their times even more impressive considering that they were run into a -0.7m/s headwind.

“I ran right through the line,” said Hill, who becomes just the second girl to complete a world youth sprint double after GB’s Jodie Williams achieved the feat in 2009. “The crowd went wild,” she added, “and then I heard ‘world youth record’ and I just thought, ‘oh my God, how fast did I run? '”

Bronze went to South Africa’s Nicola De Bruyn with 23.38 – her time one of six PBs set by athletes in the final.

Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was another to do the double as the 16-year-old ran 20.34 to break a 200m championship record belonging to a certain Usain Bolt and move second behind only the Jamaican sprint star on the world youth all-time list.

Like in the girls’ final, six members of the field ran personal bests, with South Africa’s Kyle Appel sprinting to silver in 20.57 and USA’s Josephus Lyles running 20.74 to add 200m bronze to the 400m silver he had already claimed in Cali. GB’s Toby Harries ran a 20.92 PB in sixth, while Cameron Tindle was eighth in 21.13.

“Two times gold in Cali is what I expected,” said Sani Brown, who had run a 100m championship record of 10.28 on the first day of the championships. “I want to do so much more, win Olympic gold and set the world record and Cali was a big step to do that.”

The next event up on the track was the girls’ 800m and USA’s Samantha Watson ran a 2:03.54 PB to take the title, while GB’s Carys McAulay was another to clock a lifetime best with her 2:05.31 for fourth. Kenya’s Richard Yator Kimunyan won 3000m gold in 7:54.45 after a 55.96 last lap as GB’s Alex Yee placed sixth in 8:28.26.

The 2000m steeplechase title was claimed by Kenya’s Vincent Ruto with a time of 5:27.58. GB’s final athlete in action, Will Battershill, finished 11th in 6:03.39.

South Africa’s Paul Jacobus Botha threw a 78.49m PB to win the javelin title ahead of decathlon champion Niklas Kaul who secured his second medal with 78.05m for silver, while Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won pole vault gold ahead of Ukraine’s Vladyslav Malykhin as both athletes cleared a championship record 5.30m.

USA’s Tara Davis was the long jump winner as she leapt out to a 6.41m PB in the final round as GB’s Emily Wright finished fourth with her 6.21m PB – just five centimetres separating the second and seventh-placed athletes. In that runner-up spot was Sweden’s Kaiza Karlen with 6.24m.

The last event of the championships was the 4x400m mixed team relay and the USA rounded off its record medal haul with one final gold – the quartet of Keshun Reed, Lynna Irby, Norman Grimes and Samantha Watson combining to clock 3:19.54.

In total, the nation’s athletes won 19 medals – eight gold, five silver and six bronze.

Second to the United States on the medal table was Kenya with 13, including five golds, and Japan with five medals, three of those gold. Great Britain placed 31st with three bronze medals claimed by Rechmial Miller (100m), Catherine Reid (400m) and George Evans (discus).

Full results can be found here. See the next edition of AW magazine for coverage, pictures and results from Cali

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