Last year in September, competing in his first World Athletics Championship, Naeem Jack only managed a fifth place win in the 200m heats, failing to make it to the finals. He ran a time of 20.65 seconds.This year, the 18 year old is making significant progress.
On Sunday, competing at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria, he ran a time of 20.47 seconds, qualified for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships and set the fastest under 20 time for the 2026 season.
Born and raised in Mitchell’s Plain, Naeem is more well known for his performance as a 110m hurdle champion. In 2023, he set a hurdles championship record of 13.31 seconds to win gold at the African U18 Championships and in 2025, he broke the under 20 South African hurdles record at the South Africa Junior Championships with a time of 13.16 seconds, going on to secure the title.
Scaling back on hurdles and focusing more on 200m, Naeem went from a a wind-aided best of 20.71 seconds in 2024 to 20.13 seconds in 2025. In addition, he went from a non-wind-aided best of 21.42 seconds in 2024 to 20.35 seconds in 2025.
His 2026 time places him 7th in the world on the senior ranking, a ranking shared with 23 year old US American, Tyson Williams. In the under 20 category, his closest competitor is US American, 18 year old Amir Thompson, who ran a time of 20.62 seconds on the 6th of February.
Leave a Reply