Dawit Seyaum (29) on her way to winning the 1500m at the 2013 African Junior Championships
Dawit Seyaum and Gudaf Tsegay, both from Ethiopia, have the five fastest junior times this year between them, led by Seyaum’s 3:59.53 set while winning in Marrakesh in early June, a time which moved the 2013 African junior champion up to sixth on the all-time list.
US high school star Alexa Efraimson is the next-fastest entrant, with a 4:07.05 mark from the IAAF Diamond League meeting in New York last month and will be the home crowd favourite, but it’s worth noting that Efraimson was 10th in that race while Seyaum was second.
Poland’s 2013 European junior silver medallist Sofia Ennaoui is right behind Efraimson on the 2014 list and the latter’s team mate Elise Cranny at 4:10.95 is also worth mentioning.
Of note, however, is that the Kenyan entries, led by Sheila Chepngetich Keter, has run times almost entirely at altitude in Nairobi and are likely faster than the year’s list would suggest.
Parker Morse for the IAAF
