Tharp and Andre Korbmacher 1-2 In Men's 110-Meter Hurdles; Scottie Vines Sails Over 2.25m To Win High Jump; Akaoma Odeluga Gets One Big Throw For Winner In Women's Shot Put

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

World Athletics Photos

The United States won three of the 13 gold medals awarded on the fourth day at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru. 

Akaoma Odeluga of Ole Miss, a product of Munster, Ind., connected for a big throw on her fourth attempt and it held up to win the women's shot put competition by nearly a meter. 

Odeluga, who placed 14th at the Indiana state meet in 2023, and fouled on all three attempts at this year's NCAA Championships, is World U20 gold medalist. She has improved by 16 feet in a year under Ole Miss coach Connie Price-Smith. 

Ja'Kobe Tharp, already an NCAA champion for Auburn, was one of the most heavily favored gold medal prospects on the U.S. team and he delivered with a 110-meter hurdles victory in 13.05 seconds. 

It was a 1-2 finish for the U.S. as Florida State's Andre Korbmacher ran 13.14 for the silver medal. 

Scottie Vines of De Beque CO skied over the high jump bar and outlasted Italy's Matteo Sioli to win a gold medal. Vines, who is headed the University of Colorado in the fall, made 2.21m (7-3) on his first attempt to take the lead and then made 2.23m (7-3.75) on his third attempt to match Sioli and force the bar to go higher. 

Then Vines made 2.25m (7-4.50) on his first attempt to seal the win. 

In the women's 800 meters, Sophia Gorriaran of Harvard ran 2:01.04 to earn a bronze medal. Kenya's Sarah Moraa, the younger sister of Mary Moraa, the Olympic bronze medalist, won the final in 2:00.36. 

Claudia Hollingsworth of Australia was second with 2:00.87 to take silver. 

Evelyn Bliss from Bucknell, 13th as a freshman at her first NCAA Championships, threw 54.01m (177-2) for a bronze medal in the women's javelin. China's Ziyi Yan won the gold with 63.05m (206-10). 

The U.S. was shut out of the medals in both 100 and 200. In the 200-meter finals on Friday, Adaejah Hodge of British Virgin Islands (Montverde Academy FL) beat Australia's Torrie Lewis, 22.74 to 22.88. 

Americans Taylor Snaer and Elise Cooper finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in 23.31 and 23.40. 

In the men's 200 meters, South Africa's Bayanda Walaza added his second gold medal in 20.52 seconds. Australia's Gout Gout was a hard-charging second in 20.60 and Great Britain's Jake Odey-Jordan (Archbishop Carroll DC) took bronze with 20.81. 

Jaden Wiley of the U.S. was fifth in 21.17.

Nonah Waldron finished fourth in the women's 100-meter hurdles, won by Kerrica Hill of Jamaica in 12.99 seconds. Waldron ran 13.30. 

Tomas Jarvinen of the Czech Republic nearly broke the world U20 record in the decathlon, coming up just a couple of seconds short in the 1,500 meters. Still, his total of 8,425 points won the competition by almost 200 points. 

The U.S. qualified both 4x400s to Saturday's final and also the women's 4x100. The men's 4x100, like the senior men's team at the Olympics, was unsuccessful.