3rd World Youth Championships
for athletes age 15 to 17 - July 9-13 at Sherbrooke Canada

| Schedule & Results: Day 1 Wed - Day 2 Thurs - Day 3 Fri - Day 4 Sat - Day 5 Sun | Live results on IAAF site |
| Team USA | IAAF web site | Sherbrooke local web site | Prior Years |
| IAAF release cites Allyson Felix in calling meet a "springboard to the future" | |

IAAF release
3rd IAAF World Youth Championships -
Spring board to the future
Saturday 5 July 2003
Monte-Carlo – The third IAAF World Youth Championships will take place in Sherbrooke, Canada from 9 to 13 July, and even though relatively young, these Championships have already proved to be a great spring board for young athletes.

Allyson Felix, winner of the 100m World Youth title two years ago in Debrecen, Hungary, is making headlines all over the world this year after a string of fine performances.

Her ascendancy to the senior top ranks may have come earlier than expected but it is certainly no surprise to see a number of those athletes who won the inaugural World Youth Championships in 1999 amongst the leading stars of today.

Mark Lewis-Francis (GBR) and Jana Pittman (AUS) who both made their very first mark in the 1st IAAF World Youth Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 1999, went on to become world junior champions. They both are now established world class senior competitors, the former winning the European Cup 100m in Florence this summer, and the latter the Commonwealth Games 400m Hurdles title in 2002.

Famously Jana Pittman won the 400m Hurdles in 57.87 and finished 7th in the 400m in Poland before clinching world junior titles at both distances in Santiago 2000. Mark Lewis-Francis won the 100m final in 10.40 in Bydgoszcz and went on to be crowned World Junior champion in Santiago the following year.

“I remember everything of my world youth championships,” said MLF. “It was a great experience and one I will never forget. When I won the world youth title, that’s when I knew I wanted to become a professional athlete.

“I definitely think the IAAF made an excellent decision when introducing World Championships for youths. It gives you extra motivation and helps you keep focus on the sport.”

Other important figures of today’s track and field made their first step at the inaugural edition of the Youth World Championships. Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva who recently established the Pole Vault leading mark of the year with a 4.77m clearance won gold in Bydgoszcz. High jumpers Anna Chicherova (RUS) and Jacques Freitag (RSA) and 1500m ace Cornelius Chrichir (KEN) were also gold medallists in Poland.

Prior Years World Youth Championships

• 2001 Debrecen Hungary
• 1999 Bydgoszcz Poland

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