Letsile Tebogo runs 19.99, sets World U20 championship record in the 200m heats

Fresh off his blistering World U20 record to win the 100m at the U20 World Athletics Championships 2022 on Tuesday, Letsile Tebogo returned this morning to drop another huge anchor in the 200m after running 19.99 to break the championship record and win his heat comfortably.

Tebogo, who is hoping to complete the sprint double this year after coming up short in Nairobi, Kenya, last summer, bolted from the blocks at the sound of the gun to cover the entire field entering the home straight. Watch Day Three Live Streaming

The 19-year-old from Botswana then increased the tempo to pull away from the field and stopped the clock at a time that improved the previous championship record of 20.17 seconds, set by USA’s Michael Norman in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 2016.

Tebogo ran 9.91 seconds to set the World U20 record in the 100m final on Tuesday evening. Read more: Letsile Tebogo breaks own World U20 record with 9.91 to take world title in Cali.

The World U20 record for the 200m is currently set at a blistering 19.49 seconds by American Erriyon Knighton, although the performance is still to be ratified by World Athletics.

Meanwhile, Blessing Akwasi Afriah of Israel set a national U20 record of 20.37 on his way to winning heat five of the 200m and qualified with the second-fastest time overall. He was followed home by Great Britain’s Jeriel Quainoo who ran 20.50 for the third quickest time overall from the heats.

Thailand’s Puripol Boonson who just missed the podium in the 100m final, won the fourth heat with a time of 20.68 secs, defeating Bradley Oliphant of South Africa who equaled his PB with 20.73, while Malaysian sprint star Muhd Azeem Fahmi set another national U20 record with his 20.83 to win heat three.

Other heat winners on the day were Erik Erlandsson of Sweden who took heat one with 21.06, Benjamin Richardson of South Africa won the sixth heat in 20.74 seconds, while Calab Law of Australia finished on top in the seventh and final heat in 20.72.

The men’s 200m semi-finals are also slated for today at 4:35 pm ET.

Photo by Marta Gorczynska for World Athletics

RESULT -1.4
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	SWE	Erik ERLANDSSON	21.06	Q
2	ITA	Loris TONELLA	21.24	Q
3	BAH	Wanya MCCOY	21.38	Q
4	FIN	Niko KANGASOJA	21.56
5	VIN	Devonric MACK	21.72
6	MEX	Jonathan PADILLA	21.76
	UGA	Emmanuel RWOTOMIYA	DQ
	USA	Laurenz COLBERT	DNS

RESULT +0.4
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	BOT	Letsile TEBOGO	19.99 =CR	Q
2	BRA	Renan CORREA	20.83 PB	Q
3	ZAM	Kakene SITALI	21.07 PB	Q
4	TTO	Shakeem MC KAY	21.3
5	IVB	Wanyae BELLE	21.30 PB
6	CAY	Jaiden REID	21.53
7	CAN	Almond SMALL	1:15.51
	POR	Sisínio AMBRIZ	DNS

RESULT +1.0
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	MAS	Muhd Azeem FAHMI	20.83 NU20R	Q
2	AUS	Aidan MURPHY	20.85	Q
3	JAM	Bryan LEVELL	20.85	Q
4	MEX	Jose RODRIGUEZ	21.00 PB	q
5	THA	Thawatchai HIMAIAD	21.07 PB	q
6	TTO	Revell WEBSTER	21.42
7	SLO	Jernej GUMILAR	21.42
8	PUR	Diego GONZALEZ	27.83

RESULT -1.5
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	THA	Puripol BOONSON	20.68	Q
2	RSA	Bradley OLIPHANT	20.73 =PB	Q
3	GRN	Nazzio JOHN	20.93 =SB	Q
4	GER	Tobias MORAWIETZ	21.17
5	NOR	Jørgen EVENSEN LUND	21.4
6	ALG	Adem Abdelkader BENYACHE	21.97
	JAM	Sandrey DAVISON	DNS

RESULT -0.3
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	ISR	Blessing Akawasi AFRIFAH	20.37 NU20R	Q
2	GBR	Jeriel QUAINOO	20.56	Q
3	NGR	Adekalu Nicholas FAKOREDE	20.94	Q
4	ARG	Tomás MONDINO	21.15 PB
5	BOT	Lundi Warona PINAEMANG	21.19
6	CRC	Alejandro Antonio RICKETTS	21.84
7	ALG	Abdellah OUHIB	22.02
8	SEY	Jerrold ALEXIS	22.36 PB

RESULT -0.8
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	RSA	Benjamin RICHARDSON	20.74	Q
2	TUR	Anthony SMITH	20.96 NU20R	Q
3	PUR	José FIGUEROA	21.21	Q
4	NOR	Kenny Emi TIJANI-AJAYI	21.31
5	CAN	Daniel KIDD	21.4
6	NGR	Ogheneovo Nicholas MABILO	21.63
	ARG	Bautista DIAMANTE	DQ
	BRA	Izaias ALVES	DQ

RESULT +0.1
POS	COUNTRY	ATHLETE	MARK	DETAILS
1	AUS	Calab LAW	20.72	Q
2	USA	Brandon MILLER	20.79	Q
3	COL	Oscar Manuel BALTAN	21.02 =PB	Q
4	CRO	Roko FARKAŠ	21.08 =PB	q
5	ZIM	Denzel SIMUSIALELA	21.21
6	ROU	Silviu-Daniel MUNTEANU	21.24 =PB
7	SVK	Jakub NEMEC	21.52
	JPN	Shunki TATENO	DNS