On the second day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, USA, Kazakhstani athletes failed to qualify for the finals, reports infohub.kz.
Kirill Savchenko finished seventh in the 400m hurdles heats with a time of 53.88 seconds. His personal best of 52.54 seconds would not have been enough either, as the qualifying time in his heat was 51.74 seconds, set by Barbados' Rashad Gibson.
Sofya Kidenko from the East Kazakhstan region finished sixth in the 400m with a time of 56.29 seconds. Her personal best of 54.75 seconds would have placed her fifth, but to advance she needed to run faster than 54.31 seconds.
Gleb Gladilov recorded a jump of 14.75 meters in the triple jump on his third attempt, while the qualifying standard for the final was 15.69 meters. The 19-year-old from Shymkent has a personal best of 15.47 meters.
Earlier, pole vaulter Anna Cherkashina cleared 4.10 meters, a national record for Kazakhstan, to advance to the final. Thirteen athletes, including the Almaty native, will compete for medals in that event on August 8.
Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 World U20 Championships in the USA consists of six male and five female athletes who have met the qualifying standards. This is the largest contingent since the 2008 World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where 12 athletes competed. Two years ago in Lima, Peru, there were five 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 tournaments, never missing one, but have yet to reach the podium.