Winning a World Championship is difficult. A lot of things have to go right on the day of the competition, no matter how prepared you are. Having a world lead all season doesn’t mean anything if you’re not sharp when you need to be.
World Athletics’ recent announcement of their “Rising Star” finalists award got us thinking ahead to the next few seasons and who might be on top of the podium at the next few World Championships.
Of course, we’ll have to wait until 2027 to name the next batch of World Champions. In our humble opinion, the World Ultimate Championships isn’t a Championship since not all the events are included.
Whether it’s in 2027, 2029, or beyond, here are five of the young athletes we think could eventually make their way to the top of the podium.
Angelina Topić
- Age: 20
- Country Serbia
- Event: High jump
- Personal best: 1.98m (NU20R)
Angelina Topić unfortunately had to bow out of the Olympic final in 2024 due to an ankle injury. However, the twenty-year-old has already proven that she can perform at Championship meets.
She’s coming off a bronze medal performance at the World Championships, jumping a centimeter off her personal best with 1.97 meters. She also jumped this height in 2024 at the European Championships to take home silver despite still being a U20 athlete.
The path to the top of the podium won’t be easy for the defending World U20 Champion since she’ll have to finish ahead of current world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, boasting a personal best of 2.10 meters, and defending World Champion Nicola Olyslagers, who could still go higher than her 2.04 meter personal best from this season.
Both Topić parents have also previously had success in the jumps at the world level. Her coach and father, Dragutin Topić, is the Serbian high jump record holder and European high jump champion, jumping 2.37 meters in 1990 to win the World U20 Championships. Her mother, Biljana Topić, is the Serbian triple jump record holder with a best finish of fourth at the World Championships in 2009.
Phanuel Koech
- Age: 20
- Country Kenya
- Event: 1500m
- Personal best: 3:27.72 (WU20R)
Phanuel Koech is currently third in the world rankings in the 1500-meter despite not turning 19 until next month. The recently announced finalist of the World Athletics Male Rising Star award finished third this past season in the Diamond League Final.
The 1500-meter is always prone to upsets at major championships due to the strategic nature of the event. So even running one of the fastest times in the world at circuit meetings doesn’t guarantee success at the big meets.
The World U20 record holder in the 1500-meter didn’t advance past the heats at the World Championships when he went down after incidental contact on the last lap. He has already shown that he has the raw talent and racing ability to become a World Champion, and he still has plenty of time to gain additional racing experience to push himself to the next level.
Given his age, he may be in the mix for international medals for the next decade or longer.
Ziyi Yan
- Age: 17
- Country China
- Event: Javelin
- Personal best: 65.89m (WU20R)
Ziyi Yan is still only 17 years old and is already the World U20 record holder and defending U20 World Champion in the javelin. She also currently sits at 42nd all-time in the event at the senior level and is ranked number 12 in the World.
She broke the U20 record for the first time when she was only 16 years old and has gone on to break the record four more times. Her most recent world record came at the Chinese Championship, with a fifth-round effort going 65.89 meters despite dealing with an ankle injury.
Amazingly, she’ll still be eligible for the World Athletics U20 Championships next season, and would hypothetically be eligible the year after it the meet were held every year instead of every two years.
Success at the U18 and U20 level is often a poor indicator of success at the senior level. But given her dominance and the fact that she won’t turn 18 until next May, it still seems likely that she’ll continue to grow in the event.
She still has two more years to tack on to her World U20 record before she even thinks about the senior record of 72.28 meters.
Gout Gout
- Age: 17
- Country Australia
- Event: 200m
- Personal best: 20.02s (AU20R)
Gout Gout has already made a big name for himself in the sport, despite only heading into his age-18 season. Even Usain Bolt has likened him to himself.
Gout Gout has already dipped under the 10.00-second and 20.00-second barriers in the 100-meter and 200-meter respectively, with wind over the legal limit. Wind legal, he’s run 10.17 seconds and 20.02 seconds with seemingly plenty of room for growth.
Not only do we predict that Gout Gout will make his way to the top of the World Champion podium eventually, we also think he’ll be the eventual heir to Bolt’s 200-meter record.
Aaliyah Butler
- Age: 22
- Country United States of America
- Event: 400m
- Personal best: 49.09s
Aaliyah Butler is already the World Champion and Olympic Champion, having won these honors as part of the American 4 x400-meter relay this past season in Tokyo. But we believe that she’s also a candidate for the title of World Champion in the individual 400-meter, having already moved into 19th on the all-time list.
Butler is coming off a season where she won the NCAA Championship with a time of 49.26 seconds. She finished third at the USATF Championship to earn a spot on the relay team and the individual 400-meter at the World Championships. She went on to run her personal best of 49.09 at the Monaco Diamond League, finishing 0.03 seconds behind Marileidy Paulino.
Her compatriot Sydney McLaughlin-Leverone recently set the American record in the event after switching from the 400-meter hurdles to the flat 400m. McLaughlin-Leverone looks like she could be a force in the event for as long as she wants to be, but Butler has the advantage of being 4 years younger, and there’s nobody younger ahead of her on the all-time top list.