Wednesday 26 July 2006
Monte-Carlo - Colin Jackson (GBR), Derartu Tulu (ETH), Gabriela Szabo (ROM), Wang Junxia (CHN), Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), Adam Nelson (USA), Jefferson Perez (ECU), Veronica Campbell (JAM), Carolina Klüft (SWE), Osleidys Menendez (CUB), Jana Pittman (AUS)…are just some of the many past and present talents of the senior sport who cut their championship teeth on the gold of a World Junior victory.
‘Beijing 2006’, the 11th edition of the IAAF World Junior Championships, 15 - 20 August, will no doubt continue the tradition of this event as a cradle for the stars of the future, and even in the short term context of the 2008 Olympic Games in the Chinese capital might perhaps rocket a shooting star or two into view.
In Kingston 2002, Klüft (SWE) and Meseret Defar (ETH) were the two latest such athletes. Two years on and the former - also a champion in 2000 - had become Olympic Heptathlon gold medallist having taken senior European and World titles en route, while the latter, the 2002 winner at 3000m and 5000m, was crowned Olympic 5000m champion. And their flames continue to burn bright today. Incidentally, from that year’s ‘class’ too, Lauryn Williams was to become World 100m champion in 2005.
Since the introduction of the World Junior Championships in the official IAAF World Athletics Series Programme in 1986, thousands of teenagers have been given the unique opportunity to compete at the highest level thus acquiring valuable experience for their athletics careers.
Last summer a total of 16 athletes who became World Championship gold medallists in Helsinki had at the very least been finalists at the World Juniors during their careers.
And what about the last batch of World Junior champions, how have they progressed? The 2004 gold medallists from Grosseto, Italy, have also started to make a senior impact. Andrew Howe, Italy’s double medallist (200m and LJ) is now firmly installed as one of the world’s best long jumpers, LaShawn Merritt of the USA (400m) is now the third fastest indoor 400m runner of all-time, with Kerron Clement who won the 400m Hurdles in 2004, going even better, as the World Indoor record holder for the 400m flat. Kenya’s Augustine Choge (5000m) is Commonwealth champion at 5000m, and Ugandan Boniface Kiprop (10,000m) matched that feat at 10,000m in Melbourne. These are but a few of the athletes to have progressed relatively seamlessly to the senior level.
So it is by no means optimistic to predict that in Beijing 2006 a star will be born. Whether he or she can return successfully to the top of the podium in the city two years later is another question. What is for sure is that a winning senior career is only a matter of time for many of those who will be top of the junior class of 2006.