Athletics: Morocco concludes World Athletics U20 Championships with two medals

Our national athletics team concluded its participation in the World Athletics U20 Championships, held from 5 to 9 August 2026 in Eugene, United States, with a total of two medals: one gold and one bronze.

Our champion BOUCHAJDA Imad won gold in the 800m, taking victory in the final with a time of 1:44.64, ahead of Australia’s WILLIAMS Daniel, who finished second in 1:45.36, and Spain’s RIOS Alejandro, third in 1:46.25.

With this performance, BOUCHAJDA Imad became the first Moroccan to be crowned U20 world champion in the 800m and the fourth Moroccan athlete to win a gold medal in the history of the championships, following KAOUCH Adil, 1500m champion in 1998, BENSGHIR Yassine, who won the same event in 2002, and IGUIDER Abdalaati, U20 world champion in the 1500m in 2004.

In the 1500m, ER REDOUANI Osama claimed the bronze medal after finishing third in the final with a time of 3:39.68. Competing in the same race, EL MOUSSALIT Mohamed narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth in 3:41.09.

Several of our young athletes also reached the advanced stages of the competition. EL-BOUZY Saida qualified for the women’s 1500m final, while BELLAL Mahfoud competed in the 3000m steeplechase final. EL HAMDAOUI Rania and NAMAR Adam also reached the semifinals of the 400m hurdles.

At the end of the competition, Morocco finished 15th in the medal table.

The 21st edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships brought together more than 1,700 athletes representing over 135 countries at Hayward Field. Oregon hosted the championships for the second time, twelve years after staging the event in 2014.