Shanoya Douglas and Mariah Maxwell fastest in the women’s 200m semi-finals at Hayward Field; Douglas 22.53s, fastest overall in semis

World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Shanoya Douglas, Mariah Maxwell fastest in the women’s 200m semi-finals

World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Shanoya Douglas, Mariah Maxwell fastest in the women’s 200m semi-finals

Finishing one-two in the second heat, the Jamaican and U.S. rising stars set the tone in the women’s 200m semi-finals at Hayward Field on Friday, 7 August.

Jamaican superstar-in-the-making Shanoya Douglas is a woman on a mission at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, posting the fastest time in the women’s 200m semi-finals at 22.53 seconds.

The United States’ Mariah Maxwell finished second to Douglas on the track and just behind her in the combined standings, clocking the next best time across all three heats at 22.78.

Mariah’s twin and newly minted 100m U20 champion, Mia , strode across the finish line first in heat one, cruising to a time of 22.87, followed by Jamaica’s Sashana Johnson in 22.92.

“I feel really good,” Mia Maxwell told reporters. “I felt really strong, I feel really confident going into the final. I took the time, prepared mentally, prepared physically. I’m more than ready for the final.”

Nigeria’s Oghene Success Oyibu won heat three, but only advanced as the seventh fastest athlete in 23.13, vowing to do more in the final. “I feel like I can do more, but the plan was to just survive,” she admitted.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Tyra Fenton might have been the youngest athlete in the semi-finals at an astonishing 15 years old, but that didn’t stop her from punching her ticket to the final in 23.25.

“I was not expecting to come here and make it so far,” confessed the speedy teen. “I feel very honoured, very grateful, [that] I was able to execute the race injury free.”

With the Maxwell twins and Douglas set to renew their sprint battle at 20:50 local time (PDT, UTC -7) on Saturday, 8 August, there’ll be no shortage of intrigue in the women’s 200m final at Hayward Field.

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Athletics | U20 World Championships | Oregon | United States of America