A look ahead to some of the key events and contenders in Eugene

A total of 46 Great Britain & Northern Ireland athletes are among those who will be competing for global titles at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, USA.

Dina Asher-Smith, David Omoregie, Morgan Lake and Harry Coppell form part of the GB team for the event taking place from July 22-27.

The British team failed to win a solitary medal for the first and only time in Grossetto a decade ago, but ten years later the 46-strong squad could come close to matching the best-ever GB haul of nine medals from the 1990 event held in Bulgaria.

Here we take a look at some of the key events and contenders, though you can find a more in-depth preview in the July 17 issue of AW.

Asher-Smith in sprints

Dina Asher-Smith made the 200m final as a 16-year-old at the 2012 World Junior Championships and two years later the European junior champion will be looking to crown her precocious junior career with a brace of world sprint medals.

Ordinarily, Asher-Smith s pre-championship times (11.14 and 22.74) would make her the No.1 contender for glory. That was the case, until 16-year-old Kaylin Whitney showed tremendous form (11.10 and 22.49) at the US Junior Championships in Hayward Field, which will play host to the best under-20 athletes in the world next week.

Belocian v Omoregie

France’s Wilhem Belocian and GB’s David Omoregie have been trading the European junior 110m hurdles record between them all season, with Belocian coming into the championships with the record at 13.15.

Omoregie, a former decathlete, ran 13.17 with less favourable wind conditions to win at the England Under-20 Championships in Bedford, though.

Can Coppell hit the heights?

The pole vault has historically been one of Britain s weaker events globally, but world youth champion Harry Coppell has made a seamless transition into the under-20 category. Coppell, who turned 18 last week, cleared a 5.40m PB in his last competition which has only been beaten by one junior vaulter this year, Axel Chapelle from France.

Eugene might come slightly too soon for our second talented prospect, Adam Hague, but the 16-year-old, who has cleared 5.35m this year, will still be eligible for the 2016 edition in Kazan, Russia.

Lake looking to make a splash

Morgan Lake has opted to contest the heptathlon at the World Junior Championships instead of the Commonwealth Games, but the opposition will still be of a very high calibre.

The three leading protagonists Nadine Visser from the Netherlands, reigning champion Yorgelis Rodriguez from Cuba and Lake are evenly matched on paper.

The triumvirate competed in Gotzis in May and only 29 points separated Visser in 14th with 6110, Rodriguez in 16th with 6092 and Lake – who is more than two years younger than her rivals – in 17th with 6081.

A timetable for the event can be found here, while a three-page preview to the event features in the July 17 issue of AW

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