Otis Poole, Shaikira King and mixed relay quartet complete British treble in Oregon

Otis Poole, Shaikira King and mixed relay quartet complete British treble in Oregon

AW
Published: 09th August, 2026
Updated: 9th August, 2026
BY Athletics Weekly

Otis Poole ended a 30-year wait for a British men's world U20 high jump medal with bronze, Shaikira King added an 800m bronze and the mixed 4x100m team broke their own national record to claim silver on the penultimate day of the World U20 Champs.

Otis Poole produced the high jump of his life to claim bronze in the men's final at Hayward Field on Saturday (Aug 8), ending a 30-year wait for a British medal in the event at the World Under-20 Championships.

The Yate & District athlete, already a European U20 silver medallist from last year, cleared an equal PB of 2.21m to share the height with Algeria's Younes Ayachi and India's Basant — only to lose out to both on countback despite going close at 2.24m when neither of his rivals could match it.

Otis Poole (Getty)

Ayachi ultimately took gold with Basant claiming silver, while there was a second strong British showing in the same final, with Sam James — fresh from his European U18 title in Rieti last month, and competing on the eve of his 17th birthday — finishing fifth with 2.17m.

Shaikira King then delivered Great Britain's second medal of the night in the women's 800m, closing hard over the final 100m to snatch bronze in 2:03.52 in a final separated by less than half a second at the front.

Ziva Remic and Ioulianna Roussou the finish in the 800m with Shaikira King (left) (Getty)

Slovenia's Živa Remić, still only 16 and fresh off winning the European U18 title in Rieti last month, went early and held off a late surge from Greece's Ioulianna Roussou to win in 2:03.03, with Roussou taking silver in 2:03.08.

Women's 800m medallists (Getty)

King's medal adds to the European U18 silver she won in 2024 — while also marking Britain's first medal in this event at a World U20 Championships since Jess Judd's silver in 2012.

The night was capped by more history in the mixed 4x100m relay, where Great Britain and Northern Ireland improved their own national record for a second time in the competition to claim silver. Having set 41.60 in Thursday's heats to briefly hold the world U20 record, the British quartet — Divine Iheme, fresh from his own European U18 100m gold in Rieti, Susannah McKenzie, Matthew Ajayi and anchor Sophie Thomas — went one better in the final, clocking 41.38 to hold off the fast-finishing USA (41.39) by the narrowest of margins.

Relay medallists (l to r): Mathew Ajayi, Divine Iheme, Sophie Thomas and Savannah McKenzie (Getty)

It was still only good enough for silver, though, with home favourites Italy producing a superb 41.21 to claim gold and set the third world U20 record in the event inside three days of competition.

There was drama and record-breaking elsewhere on a stacked night at Hayward Field, too. USA's Le'Ezra Brown produced the standout individual performance of the evening, equalling the world U20 110m hurdles record with 12.72 to win gold, matching the mark set by France's Sasha Zhoya in Nairobi in 2021. Japan's Jeremy Koga took silver in 12.97 with USA's Zacchaeus Brocks completing the podium in 12.98, as a host of national records tumbled further down the field.

Le'ezra Brown (Getty)

In the women's sprints, USA's Mia Maxwell completed a sprint double, adding the 200m title in a PB of 22.37 to the 100m gold she won earlier in the week — only the fifth woman in history to complete the world U20 sprint double and the first since Jamaica's Briana Williams in 2018.

Mia Maxwell (Getty)

Madeline Cooper added a third American gold of the night in the women's 100m hurdles, matching her own world U20-leading time of 12.91 to beat South Africa's Tumi Ramokgopa and Jamaica's Tiana Marshall to the title.

The USA's dominance in the sprints was completed by Tate Taylor, who added the men's 200m title to his 100m gold from Thursday, powering to victory in a championship record of 19.83 to become the first American man to complete the world U20 sprint double. Team-mate Blake Hamilton took silver, with Barbados' Jayden Green claiming bronze in a national record 20.55.

Tate Taylor (Getty)

It made the USA the first nation to sweep all four individual sprint titles at a single World U20 Championships.

Yordanos Tsigab (Getty)

Ethiopia enjoyed a big night of their own in the women's 3000m, with Yordanos Tsigab and Shito Gumi going one-two in personal bests of 8:43.56 and 8:45.06, kicking clear of Uganda's Charity Cherop, who had led for most of the race before settling for bronze in 8:45.59.

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