LIMA, August 27, 2024 – Colourful javelins can be seen flying along the grey sky. Hammers and puts are lined up ready to be thrown. Walking through the corridors of Videna stadium, you can see athletes from India, Kenya and the United States ready to go in the track. In the elevators, coaches of Ukraine, South Africa and Jamaica make small talk. Technicians open the giant containers arrived from Japan to adjust the technical material, from the photofinish cameras to the sensors for false starts.

This week, Lima becomes the epicentre of athletics, as the 20th edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships lands in the Peruvian capital with a record number of registered athletes, 1720 from 134 countries, and 22 that have recently participated in the Paris 2024 Olympics. It will be a week packed with action and with some U20 world records ready to be broken.

FIVE DAYS A total of 45 competitions in 27 disciplines will be held over the next five days, from 27 to 31 August. It is the second consecutive World Athletics U20 Championships in South America and the third one in total, after Santiago 2000 and Cali 2022.

An easy way to measure the impact of this tournament lies in a single fact: Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, Faith Cherotich from Kenya and Kaylyn Brown from the United States became champions in Cali 2022 before winning medals in Paris 2024.

Speaking at the pre-event press conference, World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon was delighted. “Lima is the first city in Peru to ever host a World Athletics Series event. We have 1700 athletes from more than 130 different countries competing here in Lima, making it both the largest single-sport event ever to be staged in Peru and also the most athletes ever to have competed in this event in its 38-year history. I think both of those statistics show that this championship is in very good health indeed,” he said.

PARIS-LIMA EXPRESS Twenty-two Paris 2024 athletes are in Lima, including seven who stood out for their performances at the last Olympic Games: South African silver medalist Bradley Nkoana in the 100m and 4x100m and Bayanda Walaza in the 100m and 200m; top 8 Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia in the 3000m steeplechase and Alana Reid from Jamaica in the 100m and 4x100m; world top 20 and European U20 champion Lurdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic in the 400m and 4x400m; world top 25 and Oceania champion Torrie Lewis of Australia in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m; and Asian champion Puripol Boonson of Thailand in the 100m and 200m.

On top of that, at least 16 gold medallists from the European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica last month feature on the entry-lists for Lima 24, including Czech Michal Rada, who won gold in the 400m hurdles in 49.42s, and Italian sprint star Elisa Valensin, who won gold in the 200m and in the sprint medley relay.

PACKED CALENDAR The Villa Deportiva Nacional, commonly known as Videna, can accommodate up to 7500 spectators. This venue hosted the South American Championships in 2009, the Bolivarian Games in 2013 and was remodelled in 2019 for the Pan American Games, the same competition that will return in 2027.
There will be four finals on the first and second day, eight on the third, twelve on the fourth and thirteen on the last. Morning sessions will take place from 9 am to 1 pm, resuming from 4 pm to 6.50 pm. On the fifth day, the competitions will take place after 4 pm. 

Tickets are very reasonable at 25 soles ($6.69) for adults and 5 soles ($1.34) for children per session. In addition, children up to the age of 14 are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult who has purchased a ticket.

WELCOME TO LIMA Javier Chirinos, president of the local organising committee, couldn’t hide his emotions in his opening speech: “I have to pay tribute to the team working behind the scenes; without them none of this would be possible. And a special thanks to World Athletics, that relied on us when it seemed difficult. This is a huge event we are hosting for the first time in this area. Sports unites and sets a legacy. Welcome to Peru”.