Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) Performance Director/Athletes Liaison, Victor Okorie, has canvassed for a better transition pathway for young athletes, who excel at junior meets, to attain the best grade possible at the senior level.

Okorie, who was one of the participants at the just-concluded World Athletics Coaches Symposium in Eugene, Oregon, United States, said that he left the event convinced that the managers of the sport were doing enough to aid the youths’ transition to great senior athletes.

He said that managers are good at celebrating the beginning of an athlete’s journey from the U-18 champion to U-20 record, “but, perhaps, perhaps we do not spend enough time asking the most important question: What happens next?”

He said that a young athlete can become a world champion at U-20 level and still face an entirely different reality when entering senior athletics.

“The physical demands, the competitive environment, the training requirements change, the psychological pressure and the expectations change, just as the level of competition becomes significantly deeper. This is where the bridge can sometimes disappear,” he said.

He challenged World Athletics, coaches, federations, or anyone working tirelessly to develop athletics to think differently.

“Should we rethink the current U-20 World Championships model? I am not suggesting that we simply abolish the U-20 World Championships. The championship provides young athletes with invaluable international experience and allows them to compete on a global stage. But if our ultimate objective is senior excellence, perhaps we need to ask whether the current pathway provides enough support between junior success and senior achievement.

Rather than abolishing the U-20 World Championships, Okorie suggests that World Athletics consider strengthening the development pathway between junior and senior competition, particularly through a more deliberate U-20-to-U-23 transition programme.

He proposed a pathway in which U-18 athletes are identified and developed, U-20 athletes compete and gain international experience, while the U-23 stage serves as a structured bridge towards senior excellence.

Such a system, he said, could place greater emphasis on long-term training, strength and conditioning, injury prevention, recovery, nutrition, sports psychology, technical development, competition planning, coach education and athletes’ professional and life skills.

Okorie also called for World Athletics and national federations to measure the success of junior championships beyond medal tables.

He suggested tracking U-20 athletes for four to eight years after the championships to determine how many reach senior World Championships and Olympic Games, become senior finalists or medalists, continue improving, or remain active in athletics.

Okorie said that such data would provide a clearer picture of whether the sport is producing only successful junior athletes or developing future senior champions.

“A medal at 18 or 19 should not be the end of the story. It should be the beginning of something greater,” he said, stressing that the ultimate responsibility of athlete development should be to ensure young champions remain capable of competing and winning at the senior level.

He described his proposal as an invitation to a wider discussion rather than criticism of World Athletics, coaches, or federations, acknowledging the work already being done to develop young athletes.