World T&F Championships: Cal's Mykolas Alekna is Youngest to Win Silver Medal at Eugene

By a span of nearly three years, Cal's Mykolas Alekna became the youngest medalist ever in the men's discus at the World Track and Field Championships, which ended Sunday at Eugene, Oregon.

Coming off his freshman season in Berkeley, the 19-year-old from Lithuania earned a silver medal in the event his father, Virgilius, won in 2003 and 2005.

Previously, the youngest medalist in the men's discus at the Worlds was Germany's Robert Harting, who won a silver in 2007 at the age of 22 years, 314 days. Harting won gold at the next three World Championships.

Back in 1987, American John Powell was nearly 41 when he won a silver medal at the Worlds. So the discus is traditionally not a young man's event.

This year's competition at Eugene flipped that notion on its ear. Slovenia's Kristjan Čeh won the title at the age of 23.

Alekna was the youngest silver-medal winner in any event among men or women during the 10-day event that drew athletes from 179 countries.

Only American sprint prodigy Erriyon Knighton, bronze medalist in the 200 meters at the age of 18, took home hardware at an age younger than Alekna.

Here's a look at how youth was served at the World Championships:

Youngest gold medal winners

Reigning Olympic champion Athing Mu of the U.S., out-leaned fellow 20-year-old Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain to win the 800 meters in a world-leading time on Sunday evening, making her the youngest individual-event gold medalist in Eugene.

Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 21, disappointed by his runner-up finish in the 1,500, made up for that with a gold-medal performance in the 5,000 on Sunday. Another 21-year-old, Kenya's Jacob Krop, won the silver medal, beating 20-year-old Oscar Chelimo of Uganda, who settled for bronze.

Brazil's Alison Dos Santos, 22, stunned favored Kartsen Warholm, the Norwegian world-record holder, and Tokyo silver medalist Rai Benjamin of the U.S., setting a championship record in the 400 hurdles with a time of 46.29 seconds.

American Sydney McLaughlin, 10 months older than Dos Santos but still 22, won the women's 400 hurdles, obliterating her own world record in the process.

Dashing away from the second- and third-fastest women in history (Dutch star Femke Bol and American Dalilah Muhammad), McLaughlin crossed the line in 50.68 seconds, crushing her world standard by 0.73 seconds - an astonishing improvement.

On Sunday, she ran a stunning 47.9-second final leg to help the U.S. capture the 4x400 relay.

The meet climaxed on Sunday night with American-born Mondo Deplantis, a 22-year-old representing his mother's homeland of Sweden, eclipsing his own world record in the pole vault with a clearance of 20 feet, 4 1/2 inches.

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Youngest silver medal winners

Alekna finally will turn 20 next month leading into his sophomore year at Cal.

He broke the collegiate record in the discus in his second meet with the Bears and his personal-best trow of 229 feet, 0 inches at a Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden, is the longest ever by a teen-ager.

Alekna was unbeaten against college competition until finishing second at the NCAA meet. That should provide him ample motivation a year from now.

Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh, 20, escaped her homeland after Russia invaded and spent time training for the high jump in Serbia, Germany, Turkey and, ultimately, California.

Favored to win the gold, she was upset by Australia's Eleanor Patterson, each of them clearing 6-foot-7 1/2. She had no complaints afterward. "For me, it's gold," Mahuchikh said. "Now, everything is for our Ukrainian people, and everything you do, you want to show the good results."

A trio of 21-year-olds also won silver medals: Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia in the men's 3,000 steeplechase, and Norway's Ingebrigtsen in the men's 1,500 and Britany Anderson of Jamaica in the women's 100 hurdles.

Youngest bronze medal winners

The youngest medal winner in Eugene was 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who secured a bronze with a third-place finish in the 200 meters. A native of Tampa, Florida, Knighton finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer prior to his senior year in high school.

Knighton's time of 19.49 seconds earlier this year places him fifth on the all-time list and is a world U20 record, faster than even Usain Bolt ran at the same age.

Three 21-year-olds also took home bronze medals: Kenya's Jacob Kiplimo in the men's 10,000, Ethiopia's Mekides Abebe in the women's 3,000 steeplechase, and American Anna Hall in the heptathlon.

Cover photo of Cal's Mykolas Alekna by Kirby Lee, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo