World Athletics will overturn its ratification of five under-20 world records set by three Ethiopian athletes between 2023 and 2024 due to concerns of age verification.
The revision was uncovered on Thursday in the governing body’s newsletter and lists Birke Haylom, Melknat Wudu and Medina Eisa as the runners who will have their marks rejected since their exact birth dates cannot be sufficiently confirmed by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
Three of the records that have been rejected are from Haylom, while Wudu and Eisa have one record each.
Haylom set the U20 records in the mile in 4:17.13 on June 4, 2023 in Oslo, indoor 1,500m mark in 3:58.43 in Boston on February 4, 2024 and clocked a 14:23.71 outdoor 5,000m time in May 25, 2024.
Wudu claimed the U20 record in the indoor 3,000m in 8:32.34 in February 2024 and Eisa got the 5,000m record in 14:21.89 in September 2004 in Brussels.
All of the times listed will stay as official competition records even though the records will be erased.
According to World Athletics, the ages of all three have come into question, with Haylom’s birth date not being verified and listed on the rejection notice as “not been established to the satisfaction of the Athletics Integrity Unit,” with Wudu being classified under the same designation.
But Eisa’s actual date of birth is October 17, 2002 and not January 3, 2005, which was previously posted in her competition biography, making her 23 years old today — but 19 years old when the record was set under the falsified age.
Haylom has already competed in 2026 and won the women’s 1,500m in 4:02.79 at the BAUHAUS-Galan Indoor in Sweden in January and was named the overall winner of the 1,500m at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń in February.
Eisa most recently won the women’s 10k in 30:28 at the tRUNsylvania International 10K Brasov, Brasov in October 2025, while Wudu won the Falmouth Road Race in Falmouth, Massachusetts last August in 36:03.
Meanwhile, in the same newsletter, World Athletics listed several records from December 2025 to February that are pending ratification:
· Jane Hedengren, U20 women’s indoor 5,000m – 14:44.79 (December 6, 2025)
· Josh Hoey, indoor men’s 800m – 1:42.50 (January 24, 2026)
· Saron Berhe, U20 women’s indoor 1,500m – 4:01.23 (February 3, 2026)
· Clayborn Pender, Luke Houser, Luciano Fiore, Sean Dolan (USA), men’s indoor 4x800m relay – 7:10.29 (February 6, 2026)
· Khaleb McRae, men’s indoor 400m – 44.52 (February 13, 2026)
· Cooper Lutkenhaus, U20 men’s indoor 800m – 1:44.03 (February 14, 2026)
· Toshikazu Yamanishi, men’s half marathon race walk – 1:20:34 (February 15, 2026)
· Keely Hodgkinson, women’s indoor 800m – 1:54.87 (February 19, 2026)
· Francesco Fortunato, men’s indoor 5,000m race walk – 17:54.48 (February 19, 2026)
