‘Fastest teenager in the world’: Bayanda Walaza claims gold at World Athletics U20 Championships

Teenage sprinting sensation Bayanda Walaza powered through the race to clinch the 100m final at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Peru on Thursday.

Walaza stormed to the finish in 10.19 and was closely followed by Puripol Boonson of Thailand in second place with an equally impressive time of 10.22. Walaza’s countryman and pre-event favourite Bradley Nkoana claimed the bronze medal after sprinting to the finish in 10.26.

Walaza and Nkoana were part of the SA's 4x100m relay team that claimed the silver medal at the Paris Olympic games earlier this month. The team also included Akani Simbine and Shawn Maswanganyi.

Walaza and Nkoana's podium finish increased South Africa’s medal tally to three at the games after Shot-put star JL van Rensburg put up an impressive performance earlier in the day to win the silver medal.

South African 100m glory ‼️

Watch as Bayanda Walaza storms to the 100m gold with 10.19 🔥#WorldAthleticsU20 pic.twitter.com/2f2ju9YcIc

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 29, 2024

Before he stormed to finish line on Thursday, Walaza had made it clear that he would be taking the race seriously, adding that he wanted people to respect the sport.

“I'll tell people I'm not doing this for fun. I think other people think this is a place to play and all of that, but this is somebody else's food and other people are creating a living out of this, so we must respect this,” said Walaza.

“We might call this a hustle, so we must respect it.”

100M FINAL 👀![CDATA[]]>👀

“What do you want people to know about you before you line up for this final?” #trackandfield #walima24 #explore pic.twitter.com/WgGkSM4AJH

— Tee👑 (@realtalkwithtee) August 28, 2024

Minister of Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie took to social media platform, X, tp congratulate the the athlete.

“The fastest teenager on planet earth,” McKenzie posted.

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— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) August 29, 2024

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