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.
What a race Blessing Akawasi Afrifah surprises @LetsileTebogo2 in a championship record time of 19.96 and strikes 200m gold for six thousandths of a second!First 200m race in history in which two U20 athletes break 20 seconds.#WorldAthleticsU20 pic.twitter.com/npPKhjkTGB
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 5, 2022
What a race Blessing Akawasi Afrifah surprises @LetsileTebogo2 in a championship record time of 19.96 and strikes 200m gold for six thousandths of a second!First 200m race in history in which two U20 athletes break 20 seconds.#WorldAthleticsU20 pic.twitter.com/npPKhjkTGB
The 18-year-old beat out his competitor Letsile Tebogo from Botswana by six thousandths of a second.
This was the first 200m. race in history in which two U20 athletes finished in less than 20 seconds and Afrifah is now the fourth athlete in his age group to have ever done so.
The other competitors were over half a second behind them, with Australia’s Calab Law winning bronze with 20.48 seconds.
Israeli runner Blessing Afrifah with Letsile Tebogo from Botswana and Australia’s Calab Law. (credit: Israel Athletic Association via Sport1)Israel’s second ever gold medal at World U20 Championships
This is Israel’s second gold medal at the World U20 Championships, also known as the World Junior Championships (U20 stands for under 20 years of age). Last year, Yonatan Kapitolnik won gold in the men’s high jump.