New South Wales sprinter Patrick Fakiye became the first Australian in two decades to make the final of the men's 100-metres at an IAAF world junior championships after his blistering semi-final performance at the titles in Moncton, Canada on Thursday morning (AEST).
The 19-year-old stormed out of the blocks in the first of three semi-finas at Stade Moncton, clocking 10.71 seconds (+2.6) to place fourth and qualify eighth-fastest for the final.
Fakiye, the Australian under-20s title holder, returned to the track in the evening and ably held his own against the top junior sprinters in the world, placing eighth with a time of 10.62 seconds (-0.7).
Not since Queenslander Damien Marsh placed sixth in Bulgaria 20 years ago has an Australian male contested the 100m final at a world junior meet.
Speaking after the race, Fakiye called the experience 'unbelievable'.
"It was an amazing experience to make the final and I'm just really happy with my performance at these championships," he said.
"It's a great achievement and a great stepping stone for the rest of my career."
Jamaican sprinter Dexter Lee took out the final with a time of 10.21 seconds, becoming the first man in world junior championships history to take back-to-back titles in the event.
In other results, Victorian Regan Lamble became the first Australian to place in the top-eight in the women's 10,000-metre walk at a world junior meet, finishing eighth with a new personal-best time of 47 minutes 55.67 seconds.
"I'm pretty happy with the race, it was really warm out there so I wasn't expecting a super quick time but I'm pretty happy with the way I finished," the 18-year-old said.
The Australian team will be hoping to have more to celebrate on day four at Moncton with Lara Nielsen competing in the qualifying rounds of the hammer throw, Amanda Bartrim in the pole vault qualifiers, Brooke Stratton in the long jump qualifiers and Karlie Morton, Ella Nelson, Jake Hammond and Mathew Turk in the 200-metre heats.