Even at World Junior level women’s sprinting is super high quality and Gina Akpe-Moses certainly found herself among the best of them in making the 100m final in Tampere, Finland.
The Irish sprinter had the top Jamaicans and Americans for company, and after coming through as the fastest non-automatic qualifier, Akpe-Moses finished eighth - the Jamaican Briana Williams causing a mild surprise when striking gold, still only 16 years-old.
So competitive were the semi-finals alone that the American Twanish Terry broke the World Junior Championship record when winning in 11.03 seconds, but had to settle for silver behind Williams, who clocked 11.16 to Terry’s 11.19. The American has a best of 10.99
For Akpe-Moses, the reigning European Junior 100m champion from last summer, getting into the final represented further progress, and invaluable experience as she moves onto the senior stage. Now based in Birmingham, it’s a naturally more competitive stage too for the Nigerian-born athlete, who moved to Ireland aged three; she had earlier booking her place in the final as the fastest non-automatic qualifier and fifth fastest overall with her time of 11.51 seconds.
Both performances also auger well for the Irish 4x100m relay chances, as they will be joined Rhasidat Adeleke and Patience Jumbo Gula later int he week - Adeleke, still only 15, winning 200m gold at the European Under-18 championships in Gyor, Hungary at the weekend, while Jumbo Gula finished fifth in the 100m.
Ireland’s fastest schoolboy Aaron Sexton also performed to his best on the world stage, running a lifetime best of 21.06 to make the 200m semi-finals, before bowing out in fifth place in 21.33.
