British junior record holders Molly Caudery and Jake Norris head the 40-strong British junior team for the World Junior Championships in Tampere from 10-15 July.
Caudery twice broke the British record in Mannheim at the weekend, vaulting 4.45m and 4.53m on her way to victory, moving her to outright second place on the world junior rankings.
Norris, who is ranked second in the world at Under-20 level, backed up his record breaking 80.45m throw in Bedford at the England U20/U23 Championships with another 80m plus throw in Mannheim, recording 80.28m to take victory.
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in the women’s heptathlon Niamh Emerson (David Feeney, Amber Valley & Erewash), who is currently ranked fourth in the world at junior level, will look to add another medal to her tally on the world stage.
Fellow Commonwealth Games star Alastair Chalmers (Dale Garland, Guernsey) set another 400m hurdles personal best at the weekend of 50.52 in his native Guernsey, while fellow 400m hurdler Alex Knibbs (Nick Dakin, Amber Valley & Erewash) set a huge personal best of his own, clocking 50.57 in Mannheim – the pair sit fourth and fifth respectively on the all-time British junior list for the 400m hurdles.
Jona Efoloko (John Smith, Sale Harriers Manchester) will look to build on his European Under 18 and Under 20 200m medals in 2016 and 2017 respectively with a first world championship medal, while Kristal Awuah (Matthew Thomas, Herne Hill Harriers) will compete outside of the United Kingdom for only the second time.
European Under-18 gold medallists Holly Mills (long jump, James Coney, Andover) and Isabelle Boffey (800m, Douglas Stone, Enfield & Haringey) earn another British vest, as does double European Under-18 & Under-20 1500m champion, Jake Heyward (James Thie, Cardiff).
Current under-20 women’s 3000m European leader and fourth placer at the European Junior Championships in Tbilisi last year Amelia Quirk (Mick Woods, Bracknell) is selected and is joined by fellow endurance runner Tom Mortimer (Christopher Brown, Stroud), who is ranked second in Europe in the 5000m and recorded a 20-second personal best at the weekend of 13:57.95.
Team Leader for the British juniors, Trevor Painter, said: “We’ve selected a strong team for the World Junior Championships that we believe has an excellent chance of challenging for medals.
“We saw some excellent performances at Mannheim International over the weekend which produced great levels of competition from all our athletes, with personal bests broken all over the track and field, a trend which we hope continues in Tampere.
“The team contains a strong array of medal prospects and athletes that we believe can reach the finals of their respective event and thrive on the World Junior Championship stage.”
The British Athletics junior team for the World Junior Championships on 10-15 July 2018:
