Walaza, Nkoana clinch gold, bronze at World U20 Championships

Bayanda Walaza has won gold and Bradley Nkoana clinched bronze. This took place at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Peru, in their 100m final on Thursday morning.

Walaza, 18, won the race with a time of 10.19 seconds, while his 19-year-old compatriot Nkoana clinched himself a bronze medal in 10.26 seconds. Thailand’s Puripol Boonson took the silver medal with a time of 10.22 seconds.

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Though he only came in with the seventh-fastest personal best, Walaza would not be denied in the men’s 100m final.

The 18-year-old had a phenomenal start and took control of the race in the first steps of the race.

Both Walaza and Nkoana were part of Team SA’s 4x100m relay side that won silver at the Olympic Games in Paris earlier this month alongside Akani Simbine and Shaun Maswanganyi.

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The duo has now become forces to be reckoned with in the sprinting space and are tipped to have a bright future ahead of them.


In what was a thrilling second day at the World U20 Championships, there was also the women’s 100m, which also had South African representation in Viwe Jingqi, who finished fifth with a time of 11.57 seconds.

The women’s 100m was expected to come down to a battle between Jamaica’s Alana Reid and Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands, and it was indeed those two athletes who took the gold and silver medals, respectively.

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