Maykel Masso in the long jump at the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015 (© Getty Images)
Maykel Masso of Cuba, the world U18 champion last year at 16, will start as a strong favourite to add the world U20 title to his collection in Bydgoszcz.
Just 20 days after celebrating his 17th birthday in May, Masso leaped 8.28m at home in Havana, a world U18 best which also stands as the 10th best leap in the world this year in all categories.
Meanwhile, Masso's teammate Juan Miguel Echevarria, who was fourth at the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015 last year, has produced three of the season's best eight jumps – 7.96m, 7.93m and 7.91m – and will start as the year’s most consistent performer. Echevarria, who turns 18 on 11 August, joined the eight-metre club last year with an 8.05m leap and this year also has a wind-assisted 8.15m (2.9m/s) to his credit.
Another world youth finalist, Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou, looks to be on the verge of a breakthrough and is a solid medal threat. The 18-year-old has improved steadily throughout the season, reaching 7.89m, 7.90m and 7.98m before sailing out to a Greek U20 record of 8.19m in Kalamata in late May. He later finished third at the senior Greek Championships.
Others to watch include Nigerian Fabian Ime Edoki (7.91m), Mouhcine Khoua (7.86m) of Morocco, US junior champion Ja'Mari Ward (7.84m) and Australia’s world U18 silver medallist Darcy Roper (7.83m).
The championship record of 8.20m, set by James Stallworth of USA in 1990, is the second oldest of the standard events on the men's programme, but will come under serious threat in Bydgoszcz
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
