The World U20 Athletics Championships have concluded in Eugene, Oregon, USA. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Kazakh discus thrower Maxim Sazhnev took 11th place in the final of the discus competition. In his first attempt, the 17-year-old threw the discus 59.85 meters, but his two other attempts were fouls. He could not repeat his qualifying result of 61.37 meters, which is the Kazakh youth record.
However, that would have been enough only for 10th place. Five of the 13 finalists set personal bests, and American Simon Rosselli set a championship record. He won gold with a throw of 66.39 meters. Silver went to Estonian Sten-Erik Iir (65.42 m), and bronze to Joseph Richard Salmon of Jamaica (64.37 m).
Thus, both Kazakh athletes who reached the finals of the 2026 World U20 Championships through qualification finished 11th. Earlier, pole vaulter Anna Cherkashina finished 11th with a national youth record of 4.10 meters, just outside the top 10.
Kazakhstan was represented at the 2026 World U20 Championships by 11 athletes who met the qualification standards. This is the largest team since the 2008 World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland (12 athletes). Two years ago, in Lima, Peru, there were five Kazakh athletes, and at the 2022 World Championships in Cali, Colombia, there were four.
Kazakhstan has competed as a separate team at the World U20 Championships since 1994. Since then, our athletes have participated in 16 such tournaments, not missing a single one, but have not yet reached the podium.