Beacroft smashes U20 world record to continue golden form

Isaac Beacroft continued his impressive run of form by smashing the U20 world record in the 5km race walk at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The 19-year-old Australian secured gold, adding to his recent Commonwealth Games 10km race walk title from Glasgow.

Beacroft's time of 18:40.37 at the iconic Hayward Field was more than seven seconds faster than the previous world record. He finished comfortably ahead of China's Huajia Pu, who took silver with 18:43.70, and Italy's Nicolo' Vidal in third at 18:56.19.

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I'm over the moon, I couldn't be happier. I knew coming in it was going to be so hard. It definitely was pretty hard, so I'm just so happy to get it done.

"I'm over the moon, I couldn't be happier," Beacroft said after his victory. "I knew coming in it was going to be so hard. It definitely was pretty hard, so I'm just so happy to get it done." He admitted to feeling significant pressure following his Commonwealth triumph, with expectations that the junior event would be easier.

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It's a massive relief. I felt a fair bit of pressure going into this one, you are a Commonwealth champion, [people think] surely it's a walk in the park to do juniors. It's definitely not.

Despite the demanding schedule, flying from Glasgow to Oregon with only a brief recovery period, Beacroft managed to perform at his peak. "I didn't really freshen up there, I went out with the Commonwealth Games boys and girls," he recalled. "I didn't go too hard on the partying, but there was some definitely done, then it was pretty rough to travel here."

The Australian team also saw success in the women's 4x100m sprint heats, with Thewbelle Philp, Zara Hagan, Grace Crowe, and Emilia Reed advancing.

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I didn't really freshen up there, I went out with the Commonwealth Games boys and girls. I didn't go too hard on the partying, but there was some definitely done, then it was pretty rough to travel here.