From Gout Gout to Izobelle Louison-Roe, Australian athletics fans have every reason to be excited about the 2026 World Athletics Under 20 Championships. But if the last junior team to visit Oregon was any indication, it might just be the beginning.
On paper, Australia’s campaign at the 2014 World Athletics Under 20 Championships was relatively uneventful. A silver medal to decathlete Cedric Dubler and bronze in the 800m for Georgia Wassall saw the nation’s medal tally finish at two.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Emerging pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and discus thrower Matthew Denny were among the near misses when finishing in fourth place, along with Georgia Griffith in the 800m, while a smiling middle-distance runner by the name of Jessica Hull enjoyed a breakthrough run for seventh place over 3000m.
The occasion got the better of high jumper Nicola McDermott and pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall who failed to advance from the qualification round, but all of these athletes would go on to share one thing in common:
Medals on the world stage as senior athletes.
There was no greater 10-year reunion than the Paris Olympic Games, where Kennedy famously etched her name into athletics history with gold, Olyslagers (née McDermott) secured her second Olympic silver, Hull became Australia’s first woman to win an Olympic 1500m medal with silver and Denny launched to Australia’s first men’s discus medal with bronze.
One year earlier, Marschall soared to World Championships bronze in Budapest which he would go on to repeat at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo and 2026 World Indoor Championships in Torun, while Georgia Griffith landed on the podium with 1500m bronze at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
In total, the group of six athletes who failed to win a medal at the 2014 World Athletics Under 20 Championships have since won 22 medals on the world stage, led by Olyslagers and Hull at seven apiece.
With Brisbane 2032 on the horizon, Australia’s team at the 2024 World Athletics Under 20 Championships delivered a record-breaking 14 medals in Lima, with four of those returning in 2026 – Gout Gout, Izobelle Louison-Roe, Mason McGroder and Charlotte McAuliffe.
Of course, the goal will be to raise the bar once again in Oregon, but if the team can learn anything from those who have come before them – it is that the championships are just the beginning.
The 2026 World Athletics Under 20 Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from August 5-9 and can be watched live and free via the Seven network.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 16/6/2026
