Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 will showcase top athletes in combined events and race walks, highlighting versatility and endurance in Eugene from 5 to 9 August. In the women's heptathlon, Finland's Enni Virjonen seeks to add to her nation's recent successes after winning the European U18 title and European U20 bronze. She leads entries with a personal best of 6189 points set in Götzis. Also in contention are Estonia’s Mia Mireia Uusorg (6099 points), Portugal's Natacha Candé, Annika Põlluaas, and Great Britain's Thea Brown, who has a best of 5738 points.
In the men's decathlon, Sweden’s Liam Belo da Silva tops the list after scoring 7981 points this year. He is followed by France’s Mael-Bephassou Lannurien (7785 points), South Africa’s Daniel von der Heyden (7614), and Greece’s Nikolaos Kosmopoulos (7608). US athletes Brody Foster and Darius Jones, who placed first and second at the US U20 Championships, and Great Britain’s Samuel Newton (7531 points) are also among the leaders.
In the women’s 5000m race walk, Italy’s Serena Di Fabio leads after posting the fastest U20 time since 2007 with 20:42.74 at the Italian U20 Championships. Strong contenders include China’s Yang Yutong and Sun Xiaoxue, France’s Chloe Le Roch, and Tunisia’s Imen Saii, who set an African U20 record of 22:00. Other challengers include Australia’s Zoe Woods, Italy’s Beatrice Palmonari, Ethiopia’s Hiwot Ambaw, and Japan’s Hiromi Tabata and Ibuki Hori.
In the men's 5000m race walk, India’s Nitin Gupta is the favorite after setting a world U20 best of 18:54.37 in Bengaluru. However, Pu Huajia, who recently won the U20 men’s race at the World Race Walking Team Championships, could provide strong competition.