--- title: "Živa Remic leads World Athletics U20 Championships 800m field in Eugene, Oregon; fastest entrant with 1:59.64 PB season-best" sdDatePublished: "2026-08-06T09:18:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/ziva-remic-800m-world-u20-championships-exclusive" topics: - name: "athletics" identifier: "medtop:20000827" locations: - "Eugene" - "Los Angeles" - "Rieti" - "Ljubljana" - "Ostrava" - "Switzerland" - "Slovenia" - "Kenya" - "Ethiopia" --- Živa Remic leads World Athletics U20 Championships 800m field in Eugene, Oregon; fastest entrant with 1:59.64 PB season-best Živa Remic exclusive: "Pressure is a privilege" as Slovenia's 16-year-old leads World Athletics U20 Championships 800m field Živa Remic exclusive: "Pressure is a privilege" as Slovenia's 16-year-old leads World Athletics U20 Championships 800m field Slovenia's teenage record-breaker heads the World U20 800m field in Eugene. In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Živa Remic spoke about records, role models, and handling expectations. Živa Remic was 15 when she won European U20 silver. She was 16 when she set the European U18 indoor 800m best. On Wednesday (5 August), still 18 days short of her 17th birthday, the Slovenian opens her World Athletics U20 Championships campaign at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, as the fastest entrant in the women's 800m – and one of the youngest in the field. She tops the Oregon 26 entry list with a personal best of 1:59.64, the national U20 and U18 record she set back in June. Only one European U18 has ever run faster: Great Britain's Phoebe Gill , whose 1:57.86 in 2024 met the Olympic qualifying standard and carried her to Paris 2024 at 17. Remic reaches Eugene off a championship-record double at the European U18 Championships in Rieti, Italy, last month, clocking 2:04.19 in the semi-final before leading the final from gun to tape to win in 2:03.77 . With Gill withdrawn from these championships through a knee injury, Remic has been thrust into the spotlight as the presumptive favourite for 800m gold. But, as she told Olympics.com in Rieti, it is a label she wears with confidence. "I just loved this feeling of freedom" Remic is from Grosuplje, a town some 12km south-east of Ljubljana, and trains in the Slovenian capital with AK Olimpija under Gregor Grad. " I always just liked to run – that's strange, but I don't know, I just loved running, loved this feeling of freedom ," she said. The 800m was a choice she and her coach made together, and one she has never second-guessed: "I like the mix of endurance and speed. I think it's an interesting event also for the spectators, so yes, I like to race it." That indoor best came in February: 2:00.73 in Ostrava at the Czech Golden Gala, a run that moved her to second on the world U18 all-time list and broke six Slovenian records at once. Remic celebrates crossing the finish line to win the women's 800m gold medal at the European Athletics U18 Championships. "I try to find my own way" A student of her craft, Remic follows the senior 800m closely. Switzerland's Audrey Werro , the third-fastest woman in history, and Paris 2024 Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson are the two she keeps coming back to – though not, she is quick to say, as templates. "For sure the 800m girls like Werro and Hodgkinson are really inspiring, but as always I would say that I try to be the best version of myself that I can be, every day. I try to find my own way of racing, my own way of training," she said. Asked how a 16-year-old copes with being the favourite, her answer was immediate. " Pressure is a privilege . To be in this place, to have so many people cheering for you, that is a privilege, and I am so happy for them. But as always, I would try to focus on myself – on my run, on my pace, on the coach's plan that we put together, and try to enjoy the race," she said. The longer ambition points to Los Angeles 2028 : "Firstly, to enjoy the sport. If I enjoy it, I will be good at it. And, of course, like for every professional, the Olympics." All of it starts on Wednesday, in a first-round heat, against the quickest field she has faced – Ethiopia's Habtam Gebeyehu and Kenya's Nancy Jepngetich have both run inside 2:00.20 this season. Remic has been the youngest in the field before. She has not often been the one everyone else is watching. Getty Images for European Athletics By Will Imbo Benedetta Acri Athletics | U20 World Championships | Oregon | United States of America