Israeli Blessing Afrifah wins gold at World Athletics U20 Championships

This was the first 200 meter race in history in which two U20 athletes finished within 20 seconds.

Israeli runner Blessing Afrifah won the gold medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships on Thursday night, finishing in first place in the 200 meter race and clocking in at a championship record time of 19.96 seconds.

18-year-old Afrifah beat out his competitor Letsile Tebogo from Botswana by six thousandths of a second.

This was the first 200 meter race in history in which two U20 athletes finished within 20 seconds and this makes Afrifah the fourth ever athlete in his age group to finish the race in under 20 seconds.

The rest of the competitors were over half a second behind them, with Australia’s Calab Law winning bronze with 20.48 seconds.

Israel’s second ever gold medal at World U20 Championships
This is Israel’s second gold medal ever gained at the World U20 Championships. Last year, Yonathan Kapitolnik got gold in the 2021 men’s high jump.