The sport’s global governing body, the IAAF, has confirmed that it will start recognising IAAF World Junior Indoor Records from 1 January, 2012.
The 48th IAAF Congress in Daegu, South Korea, held just before the recent World Championships, approved amendments to IAAF Competition Rules to allow for the new category.
European junior athletes can currently lay claim to 13 world best marks in the 32 events that will be recognised. The events will be the same as for senior world indoor records, except that 50m, 50m hurdles, walks and relays will not have record status, with the combined events being contested with junior implements. Among the current generation of athletes who are likely to be recognised are Russian high jumper Mariya Kuchina and Swedish pole vaulter Angelica Bengtsson, who went over 1.97m and 4.63m respectively last winter.
Kuchina and Bengtsson then went on to prove their prowess outdoors by winning at the European Athletics Junior Championships in championship records of 1.95m and 4.57m.
Both women were born in 1993 and so will still be juniors in 2012 and no doubt aiming to make further revisions to their soon-to-be acknowledged records.
