USATF reverses its decision to not send a team to the World U20 Championships 2024

USATF has reversed its decision to not send a team to the World U20 Championships 2024. The sports federation announced that after discussions with World Athletics regarding athletes’ safety, it has reversed its decision.

The U20 World Championships are scheduled between August 27th to 31st in Lima, Peru, where civil unrest has been brewing for the last couple of months. USATF announced on April 8, 2024, that they would not be sending their team to Peru citing ‘safety’, ‘last date’, and ‘competitive readiness’ as the reasons behind the decision.

However, the sports body received widespread criticism over the withdrawal. Top young stars, including high school sensation Quincy Wilson and 100m leader Christian Miller, were slated to compete at the event.

Fans will now be able to see the young guns race at the World U20 Championships after USATF announced that it was reversing its decision. A statement released by the federation claimed that it had received assurance regarding the safety measures and was now sending its team to Peru.

"Following careful assessment and consultations with World Athletics and the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships Local Organizing Committee (LOC), USA Track & Field has received reassurance of sufficient safety measures that will be in place at the event and has made the decision to field a team to represent Team USA at the Championships taking place August 26-31, 2024, in Lima, Peru."

The team for the U20 championships hasn't been selected yet. Athletes who secure the top places at the USA Track and Field Under-20 Championships will get tickets to Peru. The national U20 championships will take place on June 12-13 in Eugene, and the final team for the world’s will be released after that.

---

Fred Kerley criticizes USATF for favoring Noah Lyles

Day 9 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Noah Lyles was included in the USA's 4x400m relay team at the World Athletic Indoor Championships at the last moment. He ran in place of Trevor Bassitt and the USA went on to finish 2nd in the event. However, Lyles’ inclusion in the team drew heavy criticism, including from Olympic medalist Fred Kerley.

Kerley expressed his disappointment on X (formerly Twitter). Kerley, who has also been vying for a spot on the relay team, alleged that the USATF was guilty of ‘favoritism’ by including Lyles in the 4x400m relay team.

"@usatf y’all play that favoritism like mf. Yall like puppets. For sure yes man"

Kerley won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He clocked 9.84s to finish ahead of Andre De Grasse (9.89s), while narrowly falling behind the surprise champion Marcell Jacobs (9.80s).