World Athletics U20 Championships 2024: Torrie Lewis, Gout Gout lead Australia’s medal rush on penultimate day
Australia won six medals in a day to take their overall tally to 10. Hollingsworth, Craig, Delta Amidzovski and Mason McGroder were also among the medallists.
Athletics
Australia’s young athletes put on a strong show at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2024 on Friday, securing six medals - four silver and two bronze - at the Atletico de la Videna Stadium in Lima, Peru.
Torrie Lewis and Gout Gout claimed silver in the 200m races while Olympians Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig matched the feat in the 800m events. Delta Amidzovski and Mason McGroder added to the tally with bronze medals in the women’s 100m hurdles and men’s long jump, respectively.
Torrie Lewis ran a personal best of 22.88 seconds in the women’s 200m final, finishing 0.14s behind gold medallist Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands.
Earlier at Lima 24, the 19-year-old continental champion clocked 23.27s for second place in the overall heats and topped the semi-finals in 23.14s.
Torrie’s previous personal best was 22.89s clocked at the Paris 2024 Olympics heats before finishing seventh in the semi-finals.
“To finally finish off my junior career; this will probably be my last race running as a junior specifically in an individual event” Torrie said. “I’ve never been on a podium of this magnitude and this is the first time having a flag around myself.”
Gout Gout, 16, delivered a personal best of 20.60s in the men’s 200m to win silver on his global championship debut. He came second behind South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza, who won the race in 20.52s.
"I feel really relieved after a long two weeks of being in Lima," Gout Gout told Athletics Australia. "I've been training, grinding and waiting patiently for this moment to happen. Now that it's done, I'm really glad and ready to rest up for the relay."
Jessica Milat (women’s 200m) and Zach Della Rocca (men’s 200m) finished in fourth and sixth places, respectively.
Claudia Hollingsworth settled for silver in the women’s 800m with a time of 2:00.87. She battled Kenya’s Sarah Moraa right to the finish line but fell behind by 0.51 seconds.
Peyton Craig dominated the men’s 800m from the start but Ethiopia’s General Berhanu Ayansa produced a late burst to take the gold medal in 1:46.86 - just 0.09 seconds ahead of the Australian runner.
Delta Amidzovski won the bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles, clocking 13.24s. Jamaica’s Kerrica Hill (12.99s) and Croatia’s Mia Wild (13.15s) finished in the top two.
On Wednesday, Delta scripted history by becoming the first Australian woman to win a long jump medal at the U20 World Championships.
Mason McGroder, Australia’s youngest athlete at Lima 24, claimed the bronze medal in the men’s long jump with a personal best of 7.80m. Croatia’s Roko Farkas (8.17m) and Serbia’s Luka Boskovic (7.93m) claimed gold and silver, respectively.
With six medals on Friday, Australia’s medals tally at the U20 athletics meet rose to 10 - two gold, four silver and four bronze medals.
The World Athletics U20 Championships 2024 will conclude on Saturday.