Maribel Vanessa Caicedo (ECUADOR)
100m Hurdles
The 17-year-old entered the World Youth Championships as South American youth champion in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 13.49. In the finals in Cali, Colombia, Caicedo overcame a fierce American competitor in Alexis Duncan, who had nearly broken the World Youth Best in the semi-finals. Caicedo ran a stunning 13.04 for the No. 4 World Youth All-Time mark and the gold medal.
But that was not the end of her season. Just last weekend, Caicedo won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the Pan-American Junior Athletics Championships in 13.45 (-1.7) behind only Junior World Record holder Dior Hall of the United States.
Ashton Eaton on Maribel Vanessa Caicedo: "Another form-chart destroyer. She is a display of confidence. She has been putting in the work with her eye on the prize for a long time. She now has her sights on bigger things. It’s going to be exciting to watch her try to achieve them."