Eritrean distance runner Aron Kifle (© Getty Images)
In what appears to be a fairly wide open field, Aron Kifle will be targeting Eritrea’s first gold medal in any event in the history of these championships.
The 18-year-old has pieced together a notable season with national U20 records over the two longest distances on the track. On 3 June he clocked 13:13.39 to finish third in Huelva, the third-fastest U20 performance of the season. Eight days later he clocked 27:27.04 in the 10,000m with his victory in Leiden. A third-place finish in the junior race at the African Cross Country Championships in March set the tone for his 2016 season.
Kifle will be joined by Awit Habte, whose 13:24.40 run this year ranks him ninth fastest on the world U20 list.
Leading perennial powerhouse Kenya are Wesley Ladema and Moses Koech, who clocked 13:32.5 and 13:38.4 to finish 1-2 at the national trials. Koech, 19, is by far the more experienced, with 2014 Youth Olympic 3000m bronze to his name, along with 7:47.48 and 13:15.56 personal bests, both from 2015, to his credit.
Others to include in the medal mix include Burundi’s Thiery Ndikumwenayo, who clocked a 13:26.24 national U20 record at the African Championships in Durban where he finished seventh.
While Ethiopians dominate the yearly U20 list, they'll be represented in Bydgoszcz by largely unknown quantities. Gaseleon Barega ran 13:49.6 for third at the East Africa U20 Championships in Dar es Salaam in late April while Yeneblo Biyazen's best performance is a 13th-place finish in the junior race at the African Cross Country Championships in March.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
