• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home IAAF

World Junior Championships: A Perspective, by Elliott Denman

Larry EderbyLarry Eder
July 28, 2014
0
0 0
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The World Juniors are a celebration of young promise in our sport. That does not mean, however, that success as a World Junior guarantees success at the senior level. Elliott Denman looks at the numbers. An interesting perspective….


Cedenio_Machel1-Eugene14.JPg
Machel Cedenio, photo by PhotoRun.net

RelatedPosts

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell, Working on the Little Imperfections, (from the Archives, January 6, 2008)

Ferdinand Omanyala, 2022 Commonwealth Games Champion, 2022 African Athletics Champion, the audio interview

The Most Excellent Adventures of Des Linden

JUNIOR WORLDS COLUMN
 
   By ELLIOTT DENMAN
  Don’t ever call the World Junior Championships the World Junior Olympics.

 Don’t even try.

 Sure the temptation is there – to call the event that has been raging at Hayward Field in Eugene a direct, almost sureshot stepping stone to the next scheduled Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020 – but our best advice is that you don’t get carried away by this premise.

  The history is there to show it’s just not so.

  For a myriad of reasons, those 19-and-unders who’ve led the world since the World Junior Championships were first staged in Athens in 1986, have had only intermittent success raising their games to “the next level.”

   Most certainly so for the American 19-and-unders who were precocious enough and fortunate enough to collect individual gold medals at the 14 previous editions of the World Juniors.  Success leading the world as ultimate teen-aged titlists was rarely followed by ultimate adult success
(which by our definition was leading the World in an individual event, at the Olympic Games or the World Championships, and excluding  relays.)

   The odds are long against it happening.

   Sure, 5 did it. But 41 did not.

    Check ’em out, check ’em out.

   In those 14 previous World Juniors, a total of 46 Americans collected individual gold medals, broken down as follows:
 100 Meters, 3 men, 5 women.
 200 Meters, 3 men, 2 women.
 400 Meters, 6 men, 3 women.
 800 meters, 0 men, 1 woman.
1,500, 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters, 3,000 steeplechase,0 men, 0 women.

110 hurdles/ 100 hurdles, 2 men, 4 women.

400 hurdles, 4 men, 2 women.
Racewalking, 5,000 and 10,000 meters, 0 men, 0 women.
High Jump, 1 man, 0 women.
Pole Vault,  0 men, 0 women.
Long Jump, 3 men, 0 women.
Triple Jump, 0 men,0 women.
Shot Put,  1 man, 1 woman.
Discus, 2 men, 0 women.
Hammer, 2 men, 0 women.
Javelin, 0 men, 0 women.
Decathlon/heptathlon  1 man, 0 women.
The totals: 28 men, 18 women.

Starting from the top:

 The 5 of those 46 who went on to take individual (again, remember, non-relay) Olympic or World Championship golds:
  (a) Adam Nelson  (World Junior  SP champion in 1994, he earned Olympic gold in 2004, although it took nearly a decade for him to actually get the medal.)
  (b) LaShawn Merritt (World Junior 400 champion in 2004, he took the Olympic
gold in 2008.)
   (c) Aries Merritt (World Junior  110HH champion in 2004, he earned Olympic gold in 2012.)
   (d) Kerron Clement (World Junior World 400H champion in 2004, he took World Championships golds in 2007 and 2009.)
  (e) Lashinda Demus (World Junior  400H champion in 2002, she won World Championships gold in 2011.)

 Of course, the book is still open on many – certainly such current and still-surely-on-the-rise notables as Michelle Carter (World Junior SP champion in 2004) and Ajee’ Wilson (World Junior  800 champion 2012.)

Plus veteran Team USA standout Natasha Hastings (World Junior 400 champion 2004;  Olympic 4×400 gold medalist 2008.)

  But who knows how far the talents of Gunnar Nixon (World Junior decathlon champion 2012) and Eric Futch (World Junior 400H champion 2012) will take them?   Likewise for Stormy Kendrick (World Junior women’s 200 champion 2010) and Ashley Spencer (World Junior 400 champion 2012.)

    There, too, are the special cases of Lauryn Williams (World Junior 100 champion 2002) who ran/pushed her way to both Summer and Winter Olympics, and Marquise Goodwin (World Junior LJ champion 2008 and 2012 Olympian) who chose the NFL and now is a Buffalo Bills wide receiver and kick receiver.

  So that still leaves 32 others.

  Many really did go on to make major noise in the sport, and several are still competing at world-class levels….but yet  have never earned individual (let me again emphasize non-relay) invitations to the top rung of Olympic and World Championship podiums.

   These men have included Andre Cason (World Junior 100 champion 1988), Ivory Williams (100 2004), Kevin Braunskill (200 1988), Chris Nelloms (400 1990), Deon Minor (1992), Darrold Williamson (400 2002), Marcus Boyd (400 2008), Antwon Hicks (110HH 2002), Jeshua Anderson (400H 2008), Andra Manson (HJ 2002),  Casey Malone (DT 1996), Walter Henning (HT 2008) and Conor McCullough (HT 2010.)

   The American women in that category include Jeneba Tarmoh (2008), Shalonda Solomon (200 2004) and  Monique Henderson (400 2002.)

    And then there’s the roster of those others 16 who (for a myriad of reasons)  fell short of their sport’s ultimate honors.
   These Junior men: Derrick Florence (World Junior 100 champion 100 1986), Stanley Kerr (200 1986), Tony  Wheeler (200 1994), Obea Moore (400 1996), Kelly Carter (400H 1988), Chris Carter (400H 2006), James Stallworth (LJ 1990). Neil Chance (LJ 1992) and Brian Milne (DT 1992, who, like Goodwin, chose the NFL life.)  

  The Junior women: Sabrina Kelly (100 1994), Shakedia Jones (1998), Ashley Owens (100 2004). Joyce Bates (100H 1996), Ronetta Alexander (100H 2004),
Teona Rodgers (100H 2008) and Takecia Jameson (400H 2008.)

   Looking beyond the USA, the roster of past Junior World champions does include the likes of Javier Sotomayor and Colin Jackson (1986),Wang Junxia (1992),  Veronica Campbell (2000), Blanka Vlasic (2000 and 2002), Valerie Adams (2002), David Rudisha (2006), Bogdan Bondarenko, David Storl and Teddy Tamgho (2008) and  Genzebe Dibaba (2010.)  

They proved themselves as teens and kept moving up every step of the global track and field ladder.   Well and good, but please remember that for every one  who climbed to the ultimate heights, a very long list of others never got far beyond that first big rung. 

Author

  • Larry Eder
    Larry Eder

    Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

    View all posts

Previous Post

Kenyan Chemtai, Ethiopian Eshetu set event records at Eugene Marathon, by Chris Lotsbom, RRW, used with permission

Next Post

Saucony 500 Mile Challenge, Week Seven, Day One, by RunBlogRun

Larry Eder

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

Similar Post

2023 RunBlogRun Spring Training for the Middle Distances, 800m to 5,000m, Week Eleven, Day 3, Wednesday is recovery day

2023 RunBlogRun Spring Training for the Middle Distances, 800m to 5,000m, Week Eleven, Day 5, Friday is for recovery…

May 27, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Live from Luskin Conference Center, the day 1 of USATF LA Grand Prix is upon us!

Coffee With Larry, Live from Luskin Conference Center, the day 1 of USATF LA Grand Prix is upon us!

May 27, 2023
Athletics find its next global rivalry in Kerley vs Jacobs, but can it be worth our while? 
2023 Wanda Diamond League

Marcell Jacobs, citing back injury, is out of Rabat Men’s 100 meters, Mia Sorgia…

May 26, 2023
Why we should be scared of Noah Lyles 2.0
2023 World Athletics Championships

Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Budapest 2023, Day 38: Five athletes from the U.S. who should be on the podium in Budapest!

May 26, 2023
Coffee with Larry, Rabat DL, flying to LA LA land, Big meet at UCLA, Eric Jenkins retires
Coffee With Larry

Coffee with Larry, Rabat DL, flying to LA LA land, Big meet at UCLA, Eric Jenkins retires

May 26, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Bermuda GP on Sunday, Night of 10,000m PBs on Saturday, Witness the wonder story #30!

2023 RunBlogRun Spring Training for the Middle Distances, 800m-5000m, Week Eleven, Day 4, Thursday track session

May 25, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to RunBlogRun's Global News Feed

Wake up to RunBlogRun’s news in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll keep you informed about the Sport you love.

*we hate spam as much as you do

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

July 5, 2022
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

July 17, 2022
2022 USATF Outdoor Champs: Melissa Jefferson takes the Women’s 100m title in windy 10.69!

The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

February 8, 2023

(RBR Archives) Coaching 101: Warm Up & Cool Down for the Jumps, by Roy Stevenson, note by Larry Eder

April 1, 2022
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

6
Asafa Powell, Considering Longevity in Sprinting

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell

5
2022 Munich Diary, Day Five, a Great Friday Night

2023 European Athletics Indoor Champs, The Women’s 60m, who will win the final tonight?

5
TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast to be Available in More Than 530 Million Homes Around the World on Sunday, November 6

RunblogRun Editorial: The Sorry State of Running Television Coverage, by Peter Abraham, note by Larry Eder

4
2023 RunBlogRun Spring Training for the Middle Distances, 800m to 5,000m, Week Eleven, Day 3, Wednesday is recovery day

2023 RunBlogRun Spring Training for the Middle Distances, 800m to 5,000m, Week Eleven, Day 5, Friday is for recovery…

May 27, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Live from Luskin Conference Center, the day 1 of USATF LA Grand Prix is upon us!

Coffee With Larry, Live from Luskin Conference Center, the day 1 of USATF LA Grand Prix is upon us!

May 27, 2023
Athletics find its next global rivalry in Kerley vs Jacobs, but can it be worth our while? 

Marcell Jacobs, citing back injury, is out of Rabat Men’s 100 meters, Mia Sorgia…

May 26, 2023
Why we should be scared of Noah Lyles 2.0

Witness the Wonder, World Outdoor Athletics Budapest 2023, Day 38: Five athletes from the U.S. who should be on the podium in Budapest!

May 26, 2023

Popular Stories

  • USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

    Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • (RBR Archives) Coaching 101: Warm Up & Cool Down for the Jumps, by Roy Stevenson, note by Larry Eder

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs: False Starts reconsidered

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent Tweets

Next Post

Saucony 500 Mile Challenge, Week Seven, Day One, by RunBlogRun

runblogrun

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. @runblogrun

Browse by Category

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Home page
  • My Account
  • Sample Page

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

Select a password for yourself. (minimum length of 8)

Paste here the user biography.

Provide here the twitter screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the instagram screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the facebook profile URL. i.e. http://www.facebook.com/RunBlogRun

Provide here the linkedin profile URL. i.e. https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-eder-5497253

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist