Mia Maxwell wins the women’s 100m at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon; ends Jamaica’s eight-year gold run

Athletics - Mia Maxwell: Five things to know about the USA’s new world U20 100m champion

Athletics - Mia Maxwell: Five things to know about the USA’s new world U20 100m champion

A twin, a triple jumper, and now a world champion. Meet Mia Maxwell, the 18-year-old Texan who ended a decade-long U.S. wait for world U20 100m gold in Eugene, Oregon.

Mia Maxwell arrived at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with a burgeoning reputation as a rising star on the track. She left it as a world champion.

On Thursday (6 August), the 18-year-old from Texas ran 11.14 seconds to win the women’s 100m at Hayward Field, holding off world U20 leader Shanoya Douglas of Jamaica by three hundredths of a second. Italy’s 16-year-old Kelly Doualla took bronze in 11.27.

It’s the biggest result yet in a career that is only just beginning. Here are five things to know about the sprint sensation.

World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Mia Maxwell powers to victory in the women’s 100m in Eugene

She ended Jamaica’s eight-year reign – and a decade-long U.S. wait – for the women’s U20 100m title

Maxwell is the first U.S. woman to win the world U20 100m title since Candace Hill in 2016, and her victory snapped an eight-year run of Jamaican gold medallists in the event. It came on the same evening that Tate Taylor ran 9.94 to take the men’s title, giving the United States a sweep of the sprint golds – exactly as Hill and Noah Lyles did a decade earlier in Bydgoszcz.

Mia Maxwell wins the women’s 100-meter dash during the USATF U20 Championships.

Her twin sister was in the final too

Maxwell is one half of a set of twins who have spent the past two seasons trading wins with each other. Mariah Maxwell lined up in the same Oregon 26 final and finished fifth in 11.35. The pair went to school in Atascocita, outside Houston, where their father played high school American football, and their mother did cheerleading and gymnastics.

The rivalry runs deep: Mariah beat Mia over 60m at the 2026 Texas High School Indoor Championships; Mia returned the favour at the VA Showcase the following week; and at the USA Indoor Championships in March, they finished second and third, one hundredth apart.

She’s a serious triple jumper as well

Sprinting isn’t Maxwell’s only event. At the North Texas Showcase in December 2025 she opened with 13.56m (44-5.75ft), adding almost two feet to a personal best of 42-7.75 on a single attempt. It moved her to second on the Texas all-time high school list, behind only Olympic bronze medallist Jasmine Moore , whose 44-10.00 from 2019 sat about four inches away.

Indeed, Moore is something of an idol for Maxwell. Asked in a Nike Elite questionnaire who she’d most like to meet, Maxwell named Moore. “I have always looked up to her on the jumps side,” she said.

She followed the Showcase by winning the triple jump at the 2026 Millrose Games with 12.95m – on the same afternoon she won the girls’ 60m in 7.20. At the Nike Indoor Nationals in March, she ran a 200m for second place in the middle of the triple jump competition.

She’s already tied a U.S. high school record

Maxwell’s rise has been relentless. In May 2025 she ran 11.04 for the 100m at the UIL Texas State Championships, a time she matched at the Brooks PR Invitational a month later and one that moved her past Sha’Carri Richardson and Tiffany Townsend on the Texas high school all-time list.

In March 2026 she finished second behind Jacious Sears over 60m at the USA Indoor Championships, equalling the high school national record of 7.13. In June she completed a sprint double at the U.S. U20 Championships, winning the 100m in 11.08 and the 200m in a personal-best 22.49.

She’s picked college over turning professional

Plenty of world U20 champions have gone straight into the professional ranks, including Jamaica’s Tina and Tia Clayton .

Maxwell, however, has committed to the University of Texas, and explained her decision at the pre-championships press conference in Eugene.

“Mentally, I don’t want to turn professional now,” she said. “I’ve committed to the University of Texas, and I feel that there are things I need to learn in college, grow through it, win a couple of NCAA titles, and then I will definitely think about turning professional.”

With LA28 two summers away and a home Olympic Games waiting, there’s time on her side.

Picture by USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect