In Eugene, Oregon, the World Athletics U20 Championships concluded with Kazakhstani athletes competing. Discus thrower Maxim Sazhnev finished 11th in the final with a throw of 59.85 meters in his first attempt, reports infohub.kz.
The 17-year-old Sazhnev fouled his next two attempts and could not improve on his qualifying mark of 61.37 meters, which is the Kazakh youth record. However, even that mark would have placed him only 10th. In the final, five of the 13 competitors set personal bests, while American Simon Roselli set a championship record of 66.39 meters to take gold. Silver went to Estonia's Sten-Erik Iir (65.42), and bronze to Jamaica's Joseph Richard Salmon (64.37).
Thus, both Kazakhs who reached finals via qualification finished 11th. Earlier, pole vaulter Anna Cherkashina also placed 11th, setting a national youth record of 4.10 meters.
In total, Kazakhstan was represented by 11 athletes at the World Championships in Eugene, all having met qualifying standards. This is the largest team since 2008, when 12 athletes competed in Bydgoszcz, Poland. For comparison, two years ago in Lima, Peru, there were five Kazakhs, and in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, four.
Kazakhstan has competed as a separate team at the World U20 Championships since 1994. Over that time, our athletes have participated in 16 consecutive tournaments but have yet to reach the podium.